Summer 2019

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

BILLY ORGEL WORKS FOR GREATER GOOD

The courtyard of the Tennessee Brewery has been transformed since Billy Orgel ’81 walked through it at a pop-up event five years ago. The then-abandoned building – graffiti-covered and slated for demolition – was the locale in 2014 for Tennessee Brewery Untapped, an initiative by a group that included two other Owls, communications professional Doug Carpenter ’82 and entrepreneur Michael Tauer ’95, who saw the potential in the building and hoped to spark interest in its revival. They did. Orgel bought the Brewery and turned it into modern urban residences. The expansive river views, spacious floor plans, and a wideopen, renovated courtyard are now delighting a new generation of Downtown dwellers.

5 Billy Orgel enhances community with historic redevelopments

11 Considering 125 Years: Robert Gordon reflects on changes at MUS

12 Rounding the Bases: Coach John Jarnagin’s journey

17 Lower School offers steady ground during adolescence

23 96 in the 125th: Class of 2019 celebrates commencement (Pictured – Lukas Jakstas, Warren Turner, and Ev Nichol)

musowls.org/media

IN EVERY ISSUE ON THE COVER

With a keen appreciation for the value in the city’s most historic buildings, Billy Orgel ’81 is steadily transforming the landscape of Downtown Memphis. His most recent renovation is the Tennessee Brewery, but he has also helped redevelop buildings off Main Street and south of Downtown and is turning his attention to Uptown and the Snuff District. As impressive as his development legacy looks to become, he is equally invested in family, faith, and community. Photo by Alan Howell

Director of Advancement

Perry Dement perry.dement@musowls.org

Director of Alumni and Parent Programs

Ann Laughlin ann.laughlin@musowls.org

Editor Liz Copeland liz.copeland@musowls.org

Contributors

Managing Editor Marci Woodmansee marci.woodmansee@musowls.org

Inside MUS Managing Editor Rebecca Greer

Creative Director LeeAnn Christopherson

Daniel Black ’18, Communications Department Intern and rising sophomore, Mississippi State University

Grant Burke, Acting Arts Department Chair

Alan Howell, freelance photographer based in Memphis

Karen Pulfer Focht, freelance photographer based in Memphis

Robert Gordon ’79, Emmy- and Grammy-winning author and filmmaker based in Memphis

Kathy Daniel Patterson, freelance photographer based in Memphis

Jane Schneider, freelance writer based in Memphis

HEADMASTER

Peter D. Sanders

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Samuel N. Graham II ’80, Chairman

Glenn A. Crosby II ’77, Vice Chairman

James F. Burnett ’83, Secretary

D. Stephen Morrow ’71, Treasurer

James H. Barton, Jr. ’85

R. Earl Blankenship

Suki S. Carson

Andrew F. Cates ’89

Edward J. Dobbs ’89

William B. Dunavant III ’78

Robert M. Fockler ’77

P. Trowbridge Gillespie, Jr. ’65

J. Brett Grinder ’91

Mark J. Halperin ’67

Robert J. Hussey III ’81

Jeffrey B. Meskin

Johnny B. Moore, Jr.

Richard C. Moore III ’98

Joseph M. Morrison ’78

William E. Orgel ’81

Wiley T. Robinson ’75

Chris R. Sanders

Frederick C. Schaeffer, Jr. ’88

William V. Thompson III ’95

Philip S. Wunderlich ’90

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD

Jason J. Fair ’89, President

Andrew A. McArtor, Sr. ’86, President-Elect

Christopher P. Beard ’84

Jeffrey Block ’94

Horace L. Carter ’89

Derek M. Clenin ’03

John T. Crews, Jr. ’84

Donald D. Drinkard, Jr. ’98

J. Elliot Embry ’04

Emmel B. Golden ’97

J. Wesley Grace ’86

J. Walker Hays IV ’84

W. Brigham Klyce ’66

W. Neely Mallory IV ’07

M. Garrott McClintock, Jr. ’06

William M. McDonald, Jr. ’97

Gregory P. McGowan ’86

Kelly L. McGuire ’70

J. Worth Morgan ’05

Michael N. Murphy, Jr. ’03

Robert B. Preston ’78

Founded 1893

MISSION STATEMENT

Memphis University School is a college-preparatory school dedicated to academic excellence, cultivation of service and leadership, and the development of well-rounded young men of strong moral character, consistent with the school’s Christian tradition.

M. Shannon Rhodes ’90

Matthew J. Saenger ’98

Gideon L. Scoggin ’95

Edward L. Simpson ’85

Joseph L. Steffner, Jr. ’09

George J. Sousoulas ’78

Charles W. Summers III ’94

Alexander W. Wellford III ’89

Reid W. Wesson ’06

Brandon L. Westbrook ’92

Andrew D. Wright ’86

© 2019 Memphis University School. All rights reserved. The name, seal, and logos of Memphis University School, as well as MUS Today, Inside MUS, The MUSe, The Owl’s Hoot, The Owl, and Beg To Differ, are registered marks of Memphis University School and use in any manner is prohibited unless prior written approval is obtained from Memphis University School.

The Gift That Keeps Giving

“To whom much is given, much is expected.” This familiar adage drawn from Luke 12:48 and 1 Corinthians 4:2 was on my mind as I prepared the Baccalaureate address to the Class of 2019. Over the course of my 34-year career in independent schools, I have heard those same passages, often delivered by a guest speaker as a reminder to students about the importance of giving back. It seems to me – as I have witnessed how our students, alumni, and faculty give of themselves in a big way – that this community has taken the lesson to heart.

The inspiration for the Baccalaureate address came during a trip to Square Books in Oxford, MS – which has become one of my favorite weekend spots. As a professor’s son having grown up in college towns, I find Oxford to be a pleasant escape. Last June I went to hear historian Jon Meacham speak about his 2018 book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, but he covered a range of topics, including service and seeking the best in ourselves, in our society, and in our country.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. – Luke 12:48 (NIV)

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. – 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV)

Then last December I heard Meacham mention the “much is given” maxim in his eulogy for President George H.W. Bush during the televised funeral. The tribute motivated me to read Meacham’s biography of the 41st president. In an early chapter describing Bush’s family life, the author cites those scriptures, describing their relevance to the late president’s personal ethos. Frequently referenced in the Bush household, the passages encapsulate a defining characteristic of that family. They were in a position of privilege, but with that advantage, they were taught, came an obligation to give back. No matter what your politics, there is no denying the family has lived up to that precept in practice.

As I have come to know the MUS community more

with each passing week, month, and now two years, I have encountered so many people who live up to this ideal, so many who embody our mission statement’s “cultivation of service and leadership.”

Billy Orgel ’81, the subject of this issue’s cover story, is a case in point. Billy has made his mark in both business and philanthropy. He has served on many nonprofit boards, including the Shelby County Board of Education and our own Board of Trustees. His projects renovating historic buildings in Downtown Memphis are examples of his keen business sense, but they also contribute to the public good by creating new job opportunities while adding to the exciting renaissance of the urban center. His devotion of time and resources speaks volumes about his commitment to others and to a better Memphis.

I have seen his kind of commitment-in-the-making among our students, played out in the classrooms and hallways, on the stages and athletic fields. I also have witnessed students volunteering and raising funds for worthy causes through our Civic Service Organization – tutoring elementary students, delivering food, collecting coats. In February 117 boys, teachers, and family members turned our Dining Hall into a meal-packing factory, preparing 21,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger. Lower School boys undertook a similar project alongside Hutchison girls in May, packing 5,000 meals.

And so, the legacy of generosity continues. MUS graduates do well, achieve, and contribute to the common good. As I have encountered philanthropic endeavors in this city, I invariably learn that MUS alumni have a hand in supporting them. And, as I have discovered in out-of-town visits, they are doing the same in their communities across the country.

As I see it, Owls to whom much is given – especially an outstanding liberal arts education that emphasizes character and service – give back much more.

PETER D. SANDERS HEADMASTER

PETE.SANDERS@MUSOWLS.ORG

Leading by Example: Billy Orgel

BY JANE SCHNEIDER

Photos by Alan Howell

Ifyou follow the news of Downtown Memphis redevelopment, then you’ve likely noticed that William E. “Billy” Orgel ’81 is often in the mix. Billy Orgel has long been knitted into the fabric of the city. As a developer, entrepreneur, civic leader, and benefactor, Orgel – it’s fair to say – is bullish on his hometown. And in the last decade, he’s become an agent for change.

Tower Ventures, Orgel’s cell tower development and site-acquisition company, is housed in the old Tennessee Brewery building, Orgel’s latest transformational masterpiece. The office is bright and stylishly industrial. The foyer centerpiece, an abstract neon sculpture built by local artist Greely Myatt, draws the eye skyward to the handsome wrought-iron stairway that circles several stories above. Incorporating much of the building’s original brick and iron work, the space is a far cry from what Orgel first encountered five years ago.

The fortress-like brewery was built on the bluff of the Mississippi River in 1890. For more than half a century, the air at the south end of Tennessee Street was pungent with the yeasty aroma of the company’s popular draft, Goldcrest beer. But as national beer brands grew to dominate the marketplace, local makers couldn’t compete. The Tennessee Brewery finally ceased operation in 1954, and the huge building was shuttered, sitting derelict for decades.

In an effort to save the historic building from impending demolition, a group of investors, including Doug Carpenter ’82 and Michael Tauer ’95, launched a series of special events in the spring of 2014. During Tennessee Brewery Untapped, visitors discovered a trendy pop-up beer garden in the building’s courtyard. Thousands turned

out to see this diamond in the rough. The hope was that someone would recognize the building’s potential. Orgel was among the attendees.

“I was out walking with some friends when we came to the beer garden, and I saw [project organizer] Doug Carpenter and [restaurateur] Taylor Berger. They showed me the building, and I fell in love with it,” he says. “We had to walk over stuff as we went through, but I thought it was really cool.”

After careful consideration, Orgel decided to take the plunge. His company purchased the building for $825,000 and began a multimillion-dollar restoration, ushering the old brewery into a new era. The renovation was completed in December 2017, and today, residents enjoy expansive riverfront views. With 14,000 square feet of commercial space,

with The Memphis Flyer. “Architecture was art [when the brewery was built], so you’re trying to preserve a piece of art.”

When it comes to preservation, the devil is in the details. And Orgel is all about details. Walking through the courtyard, he scoops up a discarded coffee cup while noting the massive water fountain. “I like the sound of running water,” he says. “It’s peaceful.” In the community exercise room, he points out a whimsical piece of graffiti that was salvaged from elsewhere in the building. “Invest in Good Times” it advises, adding to the gym’s hip, postmodern feel. The Tennessee Brewery Apartments are stylish, too, with lofty ceilings and open floor plans, some with balconies overlooking the Mississippi.

From here, residents are within walking distance of restaurants, office space, and recreational destinations, including the Bluffwalk and Big River Crossing.

“Billy has a great eye for detail and the ability to understand the market,” says Mark Fogelman ’88, president of Fogelman Multifamily Investments and Management, the company that manages the property. “He recognizes what today’s millennials are looking for in terms of working and living Downtown.”

152 apartments, and a 330-space parking garage, the Brewery is delighting a new generation of urban dwellers.

“Historic renovations are tough. That’s why the government gives you some incentives [with tax credits]. It’s easier to go out to Collierville or East Memphis and build something new, but you don’t have the same character in those cases,” Orgel said in an interview

“I am driven to complete things,” the 55-year-old Orgel admits. “I have a vision, and I want to see it through. If I see something I like, I push to see it completed. And I’m passionate about Memphis.”

While the Brewery is notably his most iconic building, it is not his first. Orgel has been steadily investing in Downtown’s resurgence since the early 2000s. His first real estate deal Downtown was with Jason Wexler, now general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, and real estate broker Adam Slovis. “We took a leap of faith on Main

Orgel stops for a campaign photo outside the polls last August.

Street and redid one historic building, then eventually five more. My fatherin-law, Sammy Salky, owned most of the buildings and ran his iconic men’s shop, Sammy’s, out of them. But as Main Street evolved, his customer base moved east, and he relocated and sold our group the buildings.”

Orgel later teamed with Henry Turley ’59 to do Barbaro Flats and Van Vleet Flats. “Henry is a true visionary!” he says. Orgel has also been a development partner in other apartment buildings south of Downtown, including South Junction and South Line. His development knowledge helped him serve as a board member of New Memphis Arena Public Building Authority, the organization that oversaw construction of the FedEx Forum. And in 2013 he became a member of the Memphis Grizzlies ownership group.

But more recently, he and his 26-yearold son, Benjamin, asset manager at Tower Ventures and commercial real estate broker, have begun more multifaceted projects. In 2016 they purchased a 55-acre plot of land on Wolf River Harbor, the American Snuff manufacturing plant. A nine-building complex at the north end of Main and Front Streets, it will eventually feature single and multifamily homes, retail space and entertainment outlets. Given its new historic district designation, the Snuff District will help complete Uptown.

“Because when you’re on Main Street, you just sort of stop,” notes Orgel. “This will provide amenities like a riverwalk along the

The Tennessee Brewery, a part of the Memphis landscape since 1890, retained its Romanesque Revival style details in its new incarnation as residential (the Tap Room, Wash House, and Bottle Shop apartments), commercial, and office space. An abstract neon sculpture created by local artist Greely Myatt draws the eye upward to the wroughtiron stairway winding above.

Wolf, giving access to the river that currently doesn’t exist.” It will also tie the district into the redevelopment being done at Tom Lee Park.

There’s also a Downtown Memphis skyline addition in the works with The Clipper project – a planned eight-story office building and boutique hotel – that recently cleared the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

Orgel’s professional life is balanced by his community of faith. The Orgels are members of Temple Israel, where four generations of his family have worshipped and where the seed for servant leadership was planted. “My parents instilled in me the importance of being involved in civic life,” he says.

Orgel remembers selling radios in the late 1980s to the principal of Booker T. Washington High School. There he learned of the financial challenges some students faced when preparing for college. Touched by what he heard, he created a scholarship enabling two students to receive a full ride to the University of Memphis.

His philanthropy has steadily grown. Orgel followed in his father’s footsteps by serving as temple president. Senior Rabbi Micah Greenstein says the Gift of Generations fundraising campaign Orgel chaired was the most successful in the synagogue’s history, with more than 1,000 members pledging $28 million.

“The Orgels are among the most generous people I know,” says Greenstein. “They give quietly. Billy’s faith matters a great deal to him, but you are what you do, and Billy shows

his faith through his actions.”

Fogelman agrees, “He really sets an example for his generation. He continues to provide guidance and support for Temple Israel and others in the Jewish community. No job is beneath him; he’s a good role model for our community.”

Orgel and his wife, Robin, married now for 28 years, have passed that lesson on to Benjamin and their daughters, Megan, 24, and Hannah, 20. During his teen years, Benjamin collected donations to help fund and build two houses for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. “It’s just the way I’ve been raised and everything I’ve learned from my parents and my rabbi,” the then 17-year-old told the Memphis Daily News in a September 2009 article.

Orgel’s civic duties are diverse, having taken him from the executive boardroom of the National Civil Rights Museum and Methodist Hospital, to St. Mary’s Episcopal School (where Hannah attended) and MUS, which he has served since 2014.

Orgel’s involvement with the Shelby County Board of Education was an outgrowth of a conversation he and Robin had about how fortunate they had been to attend good schools. As Memphis began to merge its county and city education systems, Orgel recognized the need for strong leadership.

“If we don’t educate people properly, then we create a permanent underclass, and businesses have trouble finding good employees,” he says. Orgel was appointed in 2011 to the 23-member consolidated board that was a combination of board members from the legacy Memphis City Schools and the legacy Shelby County Schools, plus seven appointed citizens. He would later become its

first chairman, offering guidance through the tumultuous restructuring phase. “I wanted to help spark change,” he says of his involvement. His work would earn him the 2015 Billy Dunavant Public Servant Award. Eight years and several re-elections since his original appointment, he continues as a board member for Shelby County Schools, representing District 8.

As a board member for MUS, Orgel works alongside longtime friend Mark Halperin ’67. Though Halperin is 15 years older than Orgel, the two are close, and Orgel considers him a mentor.

“Billy’s a unique guy,” says Halperin. “He’s a great networker and can instantly befriend people. And he’s genuinely authentic. He’s Billy –it’s not an act.”

Reflecting on his school years

A Piece of the Past

Not all of Billy Orgel’s buildings are bought out of practicality. Some purchases come about because of a more personal connection, especially if it relates to family. Although Orgel and his future wife, Robin Salky, lived just blocks away from each other as young people, they did not meet until a mutual friend’s wedding – when they were paired going down the aisle. He would eventually propose over dinner at the city’s famed Justine’s Restaurant in 1990.

That beloved fine dining establishment closed in 1996. But some 20 years later, the historic building that housed the restaurant went up for sale. On a whim, Orgel bought it, though his son, Benjamin, teasingly noted, “You’re wasting my inheritance!”

at MUS, Orgel admits he wasn’t academically driven. “But in spite of [that], I learned how to study. I learned how to be a good student. You weren’t just passed through the ranks, you learned from the books you read and from the teachers you worked with,” he says.

“Mr. Skip Daniel, who taught economics, was an outstanding teacher, and explained the business world. I was also a fan of history, and Mr. Mike Deaderick was a good educator; he was knowledgeable. The faculty cared, and they challenged you.” His extracurricular activities included yearbook, the Civic Service Club, and peer counseling.

After graduating from MUS in 1981, Orgel received his BBA in real estate and finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985. He then

After sizing up the building, Orgel admitted, “I should have let someone else be sentimental.”

His son is now working with clients who might yet breathe new life into the old jewel.

From left, Benjamin, Megan, Hannah, Robin, and Billy Orgel

The former Justine’s restaurant; photo by Houston Cofield, courtesy of High Ground News

returned to join the family business, Majestic Communications.

GROWING A BUSINESS

His father, Richard Orgel, founded Majestic Communications to sell and service two-way, ham, and CB radios. His dad, who passed away in 2018, was an engineer, intimately familiar with the amplifiers and radios he serviced but not as sales-minded. His mother ran the business side of Majestic.

“My dad was a character,” says Orgel. “He was sweet, and crusty, and loyal.” Loyalty seems to run in the family – two employees who had worked for his parents remain with his company 40 years later.

Billy’s gregarious personality was well-suited to selling, and in two years’ time, he had doubled company sales. Majestic became the largest retailer of Motorola two-way radio equipment in the Mid-South. “I didn’t work much with my dad for the first 10 years. Since he was an engineer, we only crossed over in accounting,” Orgel says.

Both men understood FCC licensing and the radio tower business, another facet of the company. Over time, Orgel grew that, too. As interest in CB’s waned, he recognized the growth potential coming in the wireless communication realm, gradually morphing their radio towers to cell tower services. He learned all facets of the business, from buying

and building to selling and leasing cell tower space around the country.

In 1995 he sold the two-way radio business and created Tower Ventures, which focused solely on wireless carriers. “In 1996 the business really took off. We started with seven towers and by 1999, we had 25. It’s like a shopping center in the sky, and at that time, everyone needed space, which we would build and sell,” says Orgel.

The go-go ’90s slowed to a trickle in the 2000s, but by then, Orgel had created enough capital to begin branching out into other development and banking ventures. Today, the company remains dynamic, with 15 employees and 430 towers in 35 states. His success led to Orgel’s induction into the Memphis chapter of the Society of Entrepreneurs in 2010.

“Billy seems to thrive on chaos. If there isn’t any, he’ll create it,” Halperin says with a laugh. “But everything he’s done, he’s done with integrity, intelligence, and honor. That’s very important to him, and it works.”

Those traits will come to the fore again as Orgel begins to draft a plan for the Snuff District, the next big thing on his “to-do” list. The huge mixed-use project will have him working closely alongside his son. Orgel is poised to transform a neglected part of the city into a more vibrant and desirable destination.

As for his personal legacy, Orgel says what matters most is his commitment to family. “Imparting good values to our children so they can take those and be successful in their lives, that’s what matters most … For our kids to be givers, not takers, to remember there’s someone else out there besides you.”

And the experience of working alongside his son, Orgel describes as immeasurable.

“I’m doing everything I can to let him stretch his wings and try out his own ideas. I’d rather talk to his friends about their ideas than older folks like me. They’ll be around to enjoy what we’re building, so it’s important we listen to their voices.”

Jane Schneider is a freelance writer based in Memphis.

A corner of Orgel’s Tower Ventures offices is devoted to history, with a video screen display highlighting the evolution of the Tennessee Brewery, and framed maps and radio equipment from his father’s business, Majestic Communications.

Retrospective at 125 Years

Reflecting on school changes highlights importance of a constant –truth and honor

BY ROBERT GORDON ’79

Editor’s note: Emmy- and Grammy-winning author and filmmaker Robert Gordon ’79 is writing a historic overview of the school. In honor of our quasquicentennial (125th anniversary) this past school year, we asked him to share his personal perspective of MUS.

Iblew into the Upper School with the winds of change. In 1975 I was the thing not like the others, the person who did not look like the rest. A wanna-be hippie coming from the public schools, a Jew in a vastly Christian milieu, I got beat up by an un-honorable football player that first week.

Three years later, I was elected to the Student Council. I was also editor of the literary magazine and a newspaper columnist. By that point MUS had its first African-American student, a post-Shah Iranian, two of us wearing yarmulkes, and

world – was everywhere fulfilled. High school hierarchies and harassments surely persist, but we used to have to go on field trips to experience the “Model UN,” and now the campus has representatives from all the world’s major religions and many minor ones, from myriad nations, and from a wide degree of socioeconomic circumstance.

Working on the 125th anniversary history project has given me the opportunity for many return trips to the hallowed halls. Decades after graduation, I see change everywhere. Even if the porch where bluesman Furry Lewis played is gone (and so is the stain where I dropped my Salisbury steak on the Clack Dining Hall carpet – wait – the Clack is gone too!), the progress is exciting. College prep? It feels like college!

Beyond the physical grounds, I visited the old school inside my head, the transport like a text from Mr. Jim Russell’s Utopia and Satire class. I was brought back to Mr. Bill Hatchett’s demand for specifics in our writing (small details create a large space), to the smell of butane and tobacco from behind our desks whenever he’d start a movie, and to his immense filing cabinets, cross-referenced – a personal proto-internet.

And also to Mr. Bob Boelte’s room, specifically to the 3-foot wide eye that hung from the ceiling, always open, always staring, black and white on cardboard. And Boelte’s hushed warning, mysterious and true: “The eye sees all, Gordon.”

presumptions

about the world – and one’s own place in it – can be fundamentally challenged, maintaining that web requires compassion, respect, and integrity. In a disparate society, honor becomes a good citizen’s passport.

The school’s credo calls out: Truth and Honor. And the reply is found in the expanded fabric of the evolved campus, in the mandate for civic service, in the insistence on a broad liberal arts education that includes a Christian element (and not the other way around).

A life of honor means being aware always of Mr. Boelte’s eye, of behaving as if every private action is performed for a sold-out audience in Hyde Chapel. We’ve learned that the reward is not in the financial compensation, the certificate, or the trophy (despite our collection of them), the reward is in knowing that at each opportunity, we were truthful and honorable. It’s how MUS echoes in our lives: Veritas Honorque.

Robert Gordon’s first book, It Came From Memphis (Simon & Schuster, 1995), is an affectionate tribute to the weird and wonderful characters slightly on the edge and outside of the more well-known Memphis music pantheon. His latest, Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul in Music’s Hometown (Bloomsbury USA, 2018), is a celebration of uncommon music and musicians from Memphis and environs.

a barometric reading forecasting continued climactic shifts.

When I recently returned to campus, the diversity in the student body signaled that the promise of a new day – tolerance, diversity, a truer reflection of the real

These trips back – physical and mental – brought me always to the heart of the school. Col. Ross Lynn once said, “In the end it doesn’t matter what you know about math if you don’t have honor.” Much more than not giving or receiving aid on each test, the Honor Code instills a sense of both responsibility and community, a self-generated web with each student a touchstone. On a campus where class, religion, and race create a mosaic

Commissioner of Student Activities Gordon moderates a lunch forum in Hyde Chapel.

Photos by Grant Burke

The and

of a Baseball Coach’s Career

BY DANIEL BLACK ’18

Photos by Alan Howell

he scoreboard in left centerfield glowed with the final score: OWLS 4 - GUEST 3.

In the home dugout, shouts, high fives, fist bumps, and chest thumps rang out as the players began their climb from the benches toward the playing field to exchange handshakes and murmurs of “good game.”

None of the Owls noticed – not for a few minutes, anyway – that the opposing players were making their way not onto the turf but out the back gates and toward their team bus.

Head Coach John Jarnagin did, though. And he was furious.

His young team had just won an extra-innings game against the defending region champs – the team to whom they had lost their best opportunity to go to the state tournament the year before, the team that had whipped them in every way imaginable since he had joined MUS in 2014. But with every defeat the Owls had stood up, walked onto the field, and exchanged handshakes, nods, and murmurs of “good game.”

From the depth of the dugout, he called to the boys who stood yet amazed, bewildered, on the field, watching as the last of the players receded from view.

“EVERYBODY

UP!”

As the players clattered down the steps, Jarnagin stood and waited –hands behind his back, his head down – before looking up to eye each of his players in turn.

“Listen up, guys,” he began, quiet at first. He didn’t mention the team’s hitting, or pitching, or fielding; he didn’t mention the bases-loaded strikeout his pitcher threw in the top of the sixth to strand three runners, didn’t mention the three runs his team scored in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, nor the walk-off single his shortstop delivered to score his star centerfielder

to win the game. He didn’t mention any of that.

Rather, he called out the lack of sportsmanship displayed by his team’s opponents.

“We are ALWAYS going to win with class,” he said, voice rising, “REMEMBER THAT!”

FROM PLAYER TO COACH

Baseball was seemingly handed to John Jarnagin on a silver platter.

He grew up in San Diego, hometown of Hall of Famer Ted Williams. He lived just a bike ride away from a local field, where he took up the game as a 7-yearold. It rarely rained in San Diego, and it never got cold.

As Jarnagin puts it, with an infectious smile, “It’s always perfect.”

Playing on that local field, he rose through the stages of the game – tee-ball and coach pitch, leading up to his high school days as an outfielder for the second-largest school in San Diego County, James Madison High School.

At that time Jarnagin worked at the San Diego School of Baseball, alongside four Major League assistant coaches. He got paid $25 a day and, as he laughs now, “worked for about 45 minutes.” The rest of the time, he’d just stay in the batting cage and hit.

There he met Roger Craig, the pitching coach for the San Diego Padres. “He was like a dad to me,” says Jarnagin, who was raised, along with his younger sister, by a single mom.

Also working at the camp was Brent Strom, a graduate of San Diego City Community College who would eventually become the Houston Astros’ pitching coach. Impressed by Jarnagin’s passion for the game, Strom put in a good word for him at San Diego City Community College, where he played for one year.

One day toward the end of his junior college career, Jarnagin’s mother called him over to the television as she

watched preacher Jerry Falwell interviewing Al Worthington, a 16-year big leaguer and the head coach at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.

Jarnagin took it as a sign. Craig, who knew Worthington from the big leagues, made some calls. Then Jarnagin contacted the Liberty coach, on the off-chance he needed a ballplayer. As it happened, he did. Eight months later, Jarnagin landed in Lynchburg as the newest member of the Liberty Flames. His tuition was covered by a Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (precursor to the Pell Grant).

“I was not very good. But, I didn’t have to pay!”

Jarnagin realized that to continue being involved in the game he loved, he would have to turn to coaching. After college he landed a job as a graduate assistant at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

In his three seasons at MTSU, the Blue Raiders won two Ohio Valley Conference titles and went to Oklahoma State for the Stillwater NCAA regional. There Jarnagin earned his master’s in health, physical education, and recreation. After a brief assistant stint at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, he was hired as the head coach at Shelby State Community

John Jarnagin, center, advises catcher Dylan Lomax ’19 and pitcher Jesse Homan ’18 during a game against Tipton-Rosemark Academy on April 21, 2018.

College in Memphis (now Southwest Tennessee Community College).

“It was learning on the job. But, it was an opportunity.”

By the end of year three at Shelby State, he had done what it takes for any coach who wants to rise in the ranks at the collegiate level: win. In 1988 SSCC won their division championship, and Jarnagin was named Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association Coach of the Year.

He did it again in 1992: another championship, another Coach of the Year Award.

Jarnagin became a fixture at Shelby State. It was a tiny junior college in a city that, up to that point, had little baseball tradition. But the tide was turning for Memphis baseball. Fairley, Sheffield, and Whitehaven high schools, to name a few, were building solid programs. Jarnagin took advantage of it.

He got the guys who weren’t wanted by major schools yet were talented enough to play NCAA Division I. The guys that the University of Memphis, in particular, didn’t want. Players who were ready to prove themselves.

He would call prospects’ coaches and ask a few simple questions:

Is he a good student? What do his mom and dad do? Can he get a Pell Grant?

Oh, and one more: Can he run?

If the answer to the last one was no, Jarnagin didn’t want him.

It worked.

In 10 seasons at Shelby State, Jarnagin led his players to division titles twice. He coached 15 all-conference players, eight professional players, and ended his career as the winningest coach in program history with 253 wins.

He then got the call to become the head coach at Morehead State, a Division I school. He was on his way.

The umps were wrong.

Blatantly, ridiculously wrong. Wrong to an unfathomable extent.

The Owls led, 5-3, over Christian Brothers High School – the powerhouse, 13-time state champion program. But the umpires were about to force the Owls’ pitcher out of the game.

Jarnagin had visited his pitcher when the opposing coach called time, and he returned to the mound later in the same inning for another chat.

If a coach visits the mound twice in an inning, the pitcher is removed from the game. But what Jarnagin did was legal because the opposing coach had called time. The umps were wrong. And the coach knew it.

“YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. IT IS LEGAL. LET ME SHOW YOU THE RULE BOOK.”

The pitcher was not removed, but the coach was. He yelled one last thing to his team as he made his way through the dugout door to the batting cages, where he watched the rest of the game.

“FINISH THE JOB. COMPETE!”

EAGLES TO EAGLES TO OWLS

The reality of his new tenure as head coach of the Division I Morehead State Eagles was anything but glorious.

When he arrived in 1996, the roster was miserably bad. He was told he had a good catcher, and everyone else was terrible. He was given one bit of advice by the athletic director: “Good luck.” It was going to be a complete rebuild with a staff of exactly one: himself. He had no assistant coach, no recruiting budget. In a town of 5,000 people.

Jarnagin had some success – leading the nation in home runs in 2002 and boasting winning seasons in 2002 and

THORN FIELD - APRIL 10, 2018

2017-18 Team Manager Daniel Black ’18 wrote this article for English Instructor Jonas Holdeman’s Studies in Sportswriting class.

2005 – but he was fired in 2007. He went on to become the head coach at the University of Montevallo, a Division II school outside of Birmingham for a couple years. Then he joined the compliance office at University of Alabama at Birmingham. But he yearned to coach again.

Then Daron Schoenrock, the head coach at University of Memphis, contacted Jarnagin about an opening at a Memphis school called Victory University, which was starting a new program. It was another opportunity to start a program his way.

His 2013 roster was patchwork; he primarily recruited locally, in addition to players from Venezuela and Bakersfield, CA. But amazingly, these guys who “just wanted to play” turned out to be pretty darn good. His first season they went 31-15. The next year it was 31-24.

Jarnagin’s career was back on track … until the school went bankrupt. It would close in May 2014. Jarnagin started a foundation so the Victory Eagles baseball team could finish the season. Supporters funded the team’s trip to the Small College World Series. They finished fourth.

“It was the best job I had ever had,” he says.

But he was back to square one.

Interviewing for an opening at Evangelical Christian School in Cordova, he was told that he was overqualified.

He filed for unemployment. He had nothing.

Then, another opportunity arose.

Two weeks after his interview at ECS, in July 2014, Johnny Beard retired as the head coach at MUS. Jarnagin didn’t know what MUS was, but he contacted his friend Basketball Coach Matt Bakke, who forwarded his resume to Athletic Director Bobby Alston. Intrigued, Alston sent him to Headmaster Ellis Haguewood Jarnagin became the new head coach for a program coming off its best stretch in recent history: They had made it to five consecutive region championship series, winning four, and finished state runners-up in four of the previous five seasons.

Jarnagin’s philosophy was simple. Players had a responsibility to the team. They needed to take care of business in the classroom, and if they didn’t like it, they didn’t have to be here.

“It scared the life out of a bunch of them,” he says.

His first two years were a struggle.

The team went 18-15 his first season and 17-14 his second. In his third year, 2017, the Owls struggled again during the regular season, ending with a 12-13 record. As the last seed in the region tournament, they strung together a couple of wins, including a 4-1 victory over CBHS in 11 innings. They finished region runners-up and made it to the state quarterfinals.

The 2018 team included six seniors and a covey of talented underclassmen, many of whom had starting time in previous years.

This was their opportunity, and they made the most of it, heading into the region tournament as the No.1 seed in the region. They were playing Christian Brothers again.

1-2 count. Two outs. MUS had a 12-1 lead over the Brothers. Top of the fifth.

The dugout was going bananas. One strike, and it’s done. One strike, and they’re region champions.

The coach made the call. Fastball outside.

The players started jumping. The players started chanting.

“WHEN THIS PITCH IS THROWN, WIN WITH CLASS. SHAKE THEIR HANDS.”

The windup, the delivery, the pitch. Strikeout swinging. They had just run-ruled the 13-time state champions in five innings to win the region.

The players trotted to the mound to greet the pitcher. They exchanged high fives.

They shook their opponents’ hands. The team ended the 2018 season as state runner-up with a record of 26-11 –one of the best in program history.

CHARACTER IN COMPETITION

“To be honest, I wasn’t a very good player. I was never as good as many of the players I got to coach,” Jarnagin says. “Coaching was different – that has been my life.”

As a head baseball coach for 32 years, Jarnagin says there’s one thing he wants to see in all his teams.

“I want them to compete.”

He loves to win. But whether his teams win or lose, he insists that their competitive spirit be accompanied by character.

“That’s what it’s all about. You cannot control a lot of things in baseball. After you’ve thrown the ball, you can’t control what happens after that. But you can control your attitude. You can control your approach. I want to see a guy that will get after it and compete all the time, regardless of the score.”

“That’s what I want. I see that, and I go, ‘Wow. That’s really good.’”

BRIARCREST FIELD - MAY 5, 2018

Happy about the hardware: Coach Jarnagin proudly displays the team’s 2018 state runners-up trophy.

WHERE

MEETS OCEAN SHORE

Lower School provides safe haven for learning during turbulence of adolescence

BY MARCI WOODMANSEE

While many adults reflect with nostalgia on their high school days, ask them whether they would revisit 7th and 8th grade, and the answer is typically an emphatic “Never!” The reasons are easy to recall: Bad skin. Braces. Social awkwardness. Surging hormones. Total self-consciousness.

Remembering that time all too well, Loyal Murphy ’86 watched some 200 boys experience it firsthand this past year, his first as Lower School principal. He likens the turmoil and instability of this stage to the constant breaking of waves in the surf. “It’s the best analogy I’ve heard,” he says. “You have the stable shore on the one hand, and then there’s the ocean in the distance where the water calms again. But it’s the shoreline – where the waves constantly break – that’s adolescence, where boys experience the greatest change.”

NAVIGATING THE WAVES

When Murphy, a Math Department faculty member since 1990, became principal of Lower School in the summer of 2018, he continued a 100-year MUS tradition of educating middleschool boys. There is a distinct sense of history about the Lower School space, which will mark its 50th anniversary in 2020. It was the late-’60s – some 10 years after the establishment of

the new MUS – when Headmaster Ross M. Lynn and his administrative team realized the school would be well-served by developing separate facilities for the lower grades, a place where younger students could receive the dedicated attention they need to grow and learn. Plans were made, teachers were selected, and in 1970 Hull Lower School opened under the steady hand of Principal John Murry Springfield. A mathematician and musician who joined the faculty in 1958, Springfield guided the Lower School – and the hundreds of boys who passed through – with integrity, selflessness, and honor for almost 20 years, until his death in 1989.

“He was omnipresent,” says Murphy, himself one of those boys guided by Principal Springfield as a seventh grader in 1980. “He joked that one day he’d write a book titled Here He Comes! because he heard that a lot as he walked the halls.”

Lower School was partly openconcept design in the ’80s – meaning,

Previous page: Oliver Doughtie ’24 looks sharp in coat and tie in the colonnade. This page, from left: Noah Davis ’24 ponders a question in Dunavant Lecture Hall; Gumby, Penny Hardaway, and Spiderman appear on Halloween; boys get warmed up in P.E.; John McAllister ’24 on doughnut duty

no doors to classrooms. While that learning blueprint didn’t last, the ultimate goal never changed: providing a strong foundation in core studies to prepare students for Upper School. The “pit” – better known as Dunavant Lecture Hall – is still there. A bell mounted on the podium still rings to commence assemblies, and locker hallways are ever messy at the end of the day. (“We’re working on that!” Murphy says.)

And yet … other things have changed. Cell phone cubbies safeguard the technology devices that no one – teachers nor students alike – can do without nowadays; it would have been impossible for Springfield to conceive of those back in 1970. The first principal also might have wondered at weekly Doughnut Days or the new “Aglu” weekends. Named after the breathing holes seals make in the ice, Lower School Aglus provide students a few homework-free breaks throughout the year. Students today can also participate in new extracurricular activities – drumline, orchestra, the Trigon Tournament – along with traditional standards such as intramural basketball and interscholastic sports.

As Murphy matter-of-factly notes, “The only constant in the universe is change.” So Lower School adapts and evolves, much as the boys themselves do during their time here. A third-generation civil engineer

by education, Murphy – sporting his trademark cowboy boots and ready smile – knew all four of his predecessors as principal: Springfield, current Assistant Headmaster Barry Ray, former Lower School Principal and Academic Dean Rick Broer, and current Instructor in Religion Clay Smythe ’85. With their legacies in mind, he spent most of the past year observing, a clipboard at the ready to help him note and remember all he learned.

“Each of the four previous gentlemen had tricks and strengths and skills that lent themselves to this job,” he says. “Mr. Springfield was very patient, very old school, by the book. He was a stoic, Spartan man – but he had the respect of all the students. Barry Ray was my principal when I returned to MUS as a Lower School math teacher; he’d sit outside the classroom and listen to me as a new teacher, so he really helped train me. Rick Broer was equally adept, and an especially good communicator. And of course, Clay Smythe, who was principal when my own son [Patrick ’16] went through Lower School – his energy and creativity are second to none.”

FACULTY ON THE FRONT LINES

In putting his own imprint on Lower School going forward, Murphy sees the primary challenge as leveling the playing field for the more than 100 boys who join the community from more than 25 schools to become Owls in seventh grade. “We have boys coming in with a variety of different backgrounds and foundations – all of which are valuable and well-crafted,” he says. “The trick is to make sure we get everyone’s new foundation set in preparation for the move into eighth grade, when they take that next step toward Upper School. That’s one of the biggest jumps, from seventh to eighth; we want to move them forward with a minimum of angst.”

Murphy’s secret weapon in this endeavor? The caring expertise of the faculty and staff. As was the case in the school’s earliest days, that engagement remains an essential in safeguarding boys through a challenging passage.

“Not everyone enjoys standing where the waves are constantly breaking,” Murphy notes. “But our folks do. We have teachers herding, wheedling, cajoling, prodding, begging, doing everything they can to

Referee, scorekeepers, and toga-clad competitors at the 7th Annual Roman Trigon Tournament this spring – from left, Class of 2023 participants Thomas Preston, Ian McGehee, Trigon Champion Alyaan Salman, Ahad Farooq, Phoenix Hernandez, and Griffin Marshall; Honor Council candidates Everett Sego ‘24, Bennett Owen ‘24, and Griffin Brown ’24; Ihsan Omer ’24 reviews homework before class

ensure academic progress for this age – 13 and 14 – when we are teaching foundational algebra, life and earth science, Latin, history, and English –all those building blocks of classes to come. And then one group moves on, and our incredible faculty have to do it all over again! It takes a special soul and strength to teach this age group. Our faculty make our program special. The best part of my day is when I’m roaming and I see them working with our students, in groups and one-on-one.”

Murphy is quick to credit the supporting members of the cast in Lower School, including longtime Administrative Assistant Julia DeBardeleben, known by students simply as Mrs. DeBar. “Her institutional knowledge is amazing, and she knows every student on sight,” he says. “Counselor Amy Poag’s tireless willingness to help our boys succeed and Assistant Principal Joe Tyler’s long-term vision and wisdom are also critical to the mission – in fact, Joe is as close to John Springfield as anyone I know in terms of

temperament and his way of doing things.”

In adapting to evolving student needs each year, with the ever-present goal of smoothing the transition into high school, Murphy expects to continue to tweak processes. During his first year as principal, this included testing a number of faculty and staff recommendations, including setting assigned lunch tables during the first two weeks of school, and moving away from demerits to consequences that fit the misbehavior (i.e., inappropriate dress is corrected with assignment of a coat and tie day, as is done in Upper School).

ACHIEVING GREAT THINGS

While courses have stayed the same, for the most part, Murphy says pressure on kids has increased exponentially due to social media and increasing extracurriculars.

“In our day we didn’t have so many extra activities,” he says. “Society has shifted so much, now kids at 10 are being told to pick the sport in which to specialize. Some students come to us doing club soccer, Scouts, travel baseball, music lessons – already involved in activities that eat a lot of time. And they don’t get the same amount of down time we got as kids; they don’t have time to get bored. If somehow they do, they have that electronic device. So, while academically here it’s much the same as in the past, outside the classroom, today’s students’ lives are more complicated than ours were. It’s hard being a middle-school boy.”

Aware that juggling all these activities along with academic requirements can cause parents frustration, Murphy offers a thoughtful, long-view perspective. “Everyone here – faculty, staff,

students, administration, parents –wants the same thing: for our students to be successful,” he says. “And great things that are worthwhile usually are difficult. When you work at something and come out on the other side stronger for it, that’s how true selfesteem develops. By the time these boys are adults out in the real world, having them become good fathers, great husbands, and productive citizens is what we all want.

“Getting there is just a process,” he adds. “The boys we enroll are all very capable – otherwise they wouldn’t be here.”

In simple terms, Murphy says it boils down to overcoming inertia. “I didn’t want to do all that work when I was in Lower School, either!” he admits with a smile. “Alumnus Terrence Cole ’11 visited us last year and talked to the boys in

assembly about how the challenges he faced in Lower School helped get him where he is today, which is overseeing intercontinental ballistic missiles as a first lieutenant and senior systems operator for the U.S. Air Force. [See story in MUS Today, Winter 2019.] That’s what challenge can do for you. It’s not going to break you … putting in the time and effort is the key. We work to convince the kids that challenge is necessary!”

Murphy sees MUS continuing to evolve in certain respects to accommodate college expectations and societal changes. At the same time, the principles that have helped define the school since its founding – the pursuit of academic excellence guided by dedicated faculty in an environment bounded by truth and honor – will remain steadfast, strong enough to withstand the crashing

waves of adolescence.

“In a sense,” Murphy says, “I could say to the boys, ‘This is not your dad’s MUS.’ But as far as the time-honored traditions – the core – it is.”

This spread, from far left: Principal Loyal Murphy pauses to answer a student question before the first bell rings; Jackson Ransom ’24 and Will Klepper ’24 enjoy a good laugh during a little last-minute cramming for exams this spring; Lower School boys return to home base after chapel; from left, Van Abbay ’23, Max Painter ’23, DeWitt Shy ’23, and Morgan Temme ’23 get focused before class begins; Worrick Uhlhorn ’24 and Mac Anderson ’24 check measurements on a science experiment; Math Instructor Caroline Hollis reviews some advanced algebra equations with Parth Mishra ’23.

Where Tradition Surrounds U

For more than 125 years, Memphis University School has educated young men to become the future leaders of our community, our nation, and the world.

Our legacy of scholarship and leadership is perpetuated by caring individuals who name the school as a beneficiary in their estate plans. There are generations of students yet to enroll, all deserving the best education possible in order to become future leaders.

Leave your legacy of scholarship and leadership.

For more information and estate planning tools, visit plannedgiving.musowls.org.

colleges and universities in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

Photos by Kathy Daniel Patterson

Seniors led the way:

12th Straight State Latin Championship 20 19 Class of

3rd Straight State Fencing Championship

The young men in the Class of 2019 capped their MUS experience as the school capped a year celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding in 1893. In a Commencement ceremony steeped in passage from Upper and life on the other side of the diploma.

Class President

and the candidates

Philip set the tone “Lord, we ask that watch

amazing class as we embark on a new chapter in our lives. … May we always remember that we are a part of the MUS family.”

After fulfilling his role as salutatorian by greeting attendees, Ethan Lam spoke of the “amazing people” who supported the Class of 2019, including parents and fellow Owls – even his friend and academic competitor, Valedictorian Ethan Hurst. “We struggled through classes together, we helped each other out with homework, and we motivated each other to do better. There may have been some friendly competition between us for valedictorian,” he said with a smile. “Looks like I lost!”

Lam praised the instructors sitting in the chancel behind him. “They are willing

Average ACT and 2 perfect scores (58% scored 30 or higher)

1332

30 90%

Average SAT

Scored 3, 4, or 5 on AP exams

to do everything in their power (of course, within reason) to help us excel. … They even lent us their offices and broke the monotony of day-to-day life at school. Some of us ranted about life. Some of us discussed literature. … Some of us (more like just me) discussed math, asking questions like: ‘Does there exist a sequence of row operations with no conditional branching on an arbitrary nonsingular 2x2 matrix leading to its inverse?’ Dr. [Steve] Gadbois, I still need to know if my proof is valid! The teachers here are phenomenal human beings, who guided us through our academic careers.”

After Beg To Differ’s moving rendition of Billy Joel’s And So It Goes, Hurst delivered his valedictory address. He began by

From left, Smith McWaters, Hudson Miller, Sloan Miles, Kayhan Mirza, Lee Linkous, Sam Nelson, Eston Pahlow

Portrait of a graduate: Reagan Griffin

American Scholastic Press First Place Award, The Owl’s Hoot 2018-19

Football State Runner-up

Individual Golf State Champion

Athletes Signed National Letters of Intent 12

quoting Sheik from the action-adventure game Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. “A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days.” After detailing some of the students’ shared memories – beginning in seventh grade, “wide-eyed and small, wandering the daunting halls of the Lower School,” and ending in senior year, where they met “each new task with a level head and a quiet determination” – he continued:

“These past years have been difficult yet rewarding, long yet short. … We are all different from our seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade selves. Take the time to thank your parents, your siblings, your teachers, and everyone who has helped you get here today. Take the memories you have made

Nominations for 1776 in the Orpheum Theatre High School Musical Awards

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP CORPORATION RECOGNITION

1 1

Semifinalists and Commended Students

and all that you learned with you wherever you go. Hold your memories tightly; they will be your rock no matter what storms you must brave.”

Following the conferring of diplomas and individual awards (see page 26), Mann presented the John M. Nail Outstanding Teaching Award to Wayne Mullins, instructor in physics (see story page 35).

Headmaster Pete Sanders noted that the 96 members of the graduating class have helped write a chapter in the school’s history in this 125th anniversary year. “MUS has a fantastic legacy here in Memphis, and you are part of our tradition,” he said.

“Your journey to this point should not

be underestimated,” Sanders said. “I know your years at MUS have been challenging as well as rewarding. That diploma in your hand is validation of a job well done. You have prevailed! Congratulations!”

Honor Council President Stephen Christenbury offered the benediction, invoking the words of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. …” Then Mann passed the school banner to 2020 Class President Will Woodmansee, and the new graduates followed their teachers out of the sanctuary with one task remaining: to toss their caps into the springtime sky before celebrating with family and friends.

Fly, 2019 Owls!

(2 wins)

Local Non-Profits Served

From left, Jackson Hescock, Jackson Hays, Gentry Harwood, and Wade Harrison

Physics Instructor Wayne Mullins receives the Nail Award from Class President John Mann.

Commencement Awards and Honors

VALEDICTORIAN AWARD

Ethan Hurst

This award is presented to the senior with the highest average over eight semesters of work at MUS.

and an oral examination, has demonstrated a high level of academic achievement along with a marked depth of intellectual maturity and curiosity and who, in the minds of the examining committee, has indicated sound intellectual attainment.

FACULTY CUP FOR GENERAL EXCELLENCE

Stephen Christenbury

SALUTATORIAN AWARD

Ethan Lam

This award is presented to the senior with the second highest average over eight semesters of work at MUS.

This is the highest honor given to a member of the graduating class. With outstanding leadership and strength of character, the recipient of the Faculty Cup has earned the highest respect of his peers and teachers for the generous contributions of his time, talent, and energy to the school and its ideals.

persistence and courage during their careers at MUS, have shown the greatest development of character and scholarship.

LEIGH W. MACQUEEN

DEAN’S CUP FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Ethan Hurst

Named in 1998 in honor of the first academic dean of MUS, Leigh Windsor MacQueen, this award was originally donated by Mr. and Mrs. MacQueen in 1967. The award is given to a graduate who, based on his academic record and his performance on both a written

ROSS MCCAIN

LYNN AWARD

Joshua Blackburn, J.J. Johnson, Bailey Keel, Sloan Miles

This award is given in memory of Ross McCain Lynn, the school’s headmaster from 1955 to 1978. It recognizes distinction in the areas of school citizenship, leadership, service, and character.

D.

EUGENE THORN AWARD  Jackson Hescock, Smith McWaters, Sellers Shy, Grant Young

This award is given in memory of D. Eugene Thorn, the school’s headmaster from 1978 to 1992. It is presented to those members of the senior class who best demonstrate the dignity, integrity, humility, and sincerity that characterized Mr. Thorn’s years as coach, teacher, and headmaster at MUS.

SCOTT MILLER REMBERT SENIOR SERVICE AWARDDavid

Byrd, William Quinlen

This award, established by family and friends, is made in memory of Scott Miller Rembert ’70. It goes to those seniors who have shown the most unselfish service to the school.

MARK COOPER POWELL MEMORIAL AWARD

Dorian Hopkins, Lukas Jakstas, Houston Pate

This award is given in memory of Mark Cooper Powell ’80 by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Powell. It is given to the graduates who, through

Valedictorian and Dean’s Cup recipient Ethan Hurst and family

Salutatorian Ethan Lam welcomes attendees.

Powell awardees Dorian Hopkins, Lukas Jakstas, and Houston Pate

Thorn Award recipients Sellers Shy, Grant Young, Smith McWaters, and Jackson Hescock

Faculty Cup recipient Stephen Christenbury

Lynn Award recipients Bailey Keel, Joshua Blackburn, J.J. Johnson, and Sloan Miles

English Instructor Lin Askew with Rembert Service Award winners David Byrd and William Quinlen

Senior Awards Honor Superlative Achievement

Seventeen seniors received the following special honors this spring in recognition of their academic, artistic, extracurricular, and community service efforts during their time at MUS:

WILLIAM D. JEMISON III AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DRAMATICS:

James Blatchford

BRESCIA AWARD FOR UNSELFISH SERVICE IN DRAMATICS:

David Byrd

CHORAL MUSIC AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE:

Tyran Williams

ART AWARD:

Jackson Hescock

ENGLISH AWARD:

David Holmes

RUSSELL JOHNSON CREATIVE WRITING

AWARD:

Trey Fussell

FRENCH AWARD: David Byrd, Caleb Riggs

WAYNE E. DUFF

LATIN AWARD: Loyd Templeton, Tyran Williams

SPANISH AWARD: Nicholas Hurley, Houston Pate

H. JERRY PETERS HISTORY AWARD: Sonny Charbonnet

CHRISTA GREEN WARNER MATHEMATICS

AWARD: Ethan Lam

MARGARET OWEN CATMUR SCIENCE

AWARD: Ethan Hurst, Hudson Miller

RELIGION AWARD: Warren Turner

DISTINGUISHED COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Richard Neff

DEWITT M. SHY, JR. MOCK TRIAL AWARD: Henry Duncan, Tyran Williams

Front row, from left, Richard Neff, Trey Fussell, Henry Duncan, Warren Turner, Ethan Hurst, Hudson Miller; second row, Nicholas Hurley, Houston Pate, Tyran Williams, Jackson Hescock, David Holmes, James Blatchford; third row, Loyd Templeton, Ethan Lam, David Byrd, Caleb Riggs, and Sonny Charbonnet

Sloan Miles won the DAR Good Citizenship Award

Athletic awardees Henry Wood (Christian Character), Maurice Hampton (Best All-Around Athlete), and Sellers Shy (Scholar-Athlete)

Class of 2019 Matriculations

Louis Allen, University of Mississippi

Tareq Alyousef, The University of Memphis

Joshua Blackburn, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

James Blatchford, Washington and Lee University

Scott Burnett, University of Mississippi

David Byrd, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Sonny Charbonnet, Tulane University

Stephen Christenbury, Mississippi State University

Robin Coffman, University of Arkansas

Mac Coleman, University of Arkansas

Will Cooper, Colorado State University

Ben Cox, The University of Memphis

Anders Croone, University of Denver

Walker Crosby, Furman University

Jack Dabov, Auburn University

Brock Dallstream, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Wood Davis, American University

Jonathan Douglass, Harvard College

Henry Duncan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Kylun Ewing, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

John William Farris, The University of Alabama

Eddie Feild, Drexel University

JoJo Fogarty, Sewanee: The University of the South

Call Ford, University of Georgia

Trey Fussell, University of Colorado at Boulder

Kyle Gan, University of Southern California

William Garland, University of Mississippi

Ben Gilliland, University of Mississippi

Griff Griffin, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Reagan Griffin, University of Southern California

Nicholas Guerra, Case Western Reserve University

Maurice Hampton, Louisiana State University

Clay Harrison, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Wade Harrison, University of Arkansas

Gentry Harwood, The University of Memphis

Thomas Hayden, University of Mississippi

Jackson Hays, University of Arkansas

Jackson Hescock, Washington University in St. Louis

Jalen Hollimon, Millikin University

David Holmes, Samford University

Dorian Hopkins, University of Tulsa

Allen Hughes, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Nicholas Hurley, University of Arkansas

Ethan Hurst, The University of Alabama

Lukas Jakstas, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

J.J. Johnson, Vanderbilt University

Bailey Keel, Washington and Lee University

Grayson Kendall, The University of Memphis

Ethan Lam,

Christian Brothers University

Lee Linkous, The University of Texas, Austin

Dylan Lomax, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga

Will Maiden, Auburn University

Emerson Manley, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

John Mann, University of Denver

Ryan Matthews, Louisiana State University

Stillman McFadden, The University of Alabama

Smith McWaters, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Jory Meyers, The University of Alabama in Huntsville

Sloan Miles, Birmingham-Southern College

Hudson Miller, The University of Alabama

Kayhan Mirza, The University of Alabama

Robbie Musicante, Rhodes College

Eli Nations, DePauw University

Richard Neff, Furman University

Sam Nelson, University of Arkansas

Ev Nichol, Williams College

Eston Pahlow, University of Arkansas

Houston Pate, Belmont University

Kirklin Perkins, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

William Pollard, University of Mississippi

Jack Powell, Auburn University

William Quinlen, Mississippi State University

Matt Rhodes, The University of Memphis

Caleb Riggs, Case Western Reserve University

Brandan Roachell, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Matthew Rogers, University of Mississippi

Dekari Scott, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

On national College Signing Day, the senior class proudly displayed their selected schools for the traditional group T-shirt photo in Thomas Amphitheater.

Sidney Selvidge, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Sellers Shy, University of Mississippi

Zuhair Somjee, Rhodes College

Alden Southerland, University of Mississippi

Jet Tan, The University of Alabama

Josh Tanenbaum, Indiana University at Bloomington

Loyd Templeton, Rhodes College

Weston Touliatos, Vanderbilt University

Liam Turley, The University of Alabama

Warren Turner, United States Naval Academy

Hall Upshaw, The University of Alabama

Billy Weiss, Loyola University Maryland

Henry Wells, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Johnathan Whitehead, The University of Memphis

Tyran Williams, Long Island University, Post

Ammon Wood, Rhodes College

Henry Wood, Wake Forest University

Philip Wunderlich, University of Georgia

Grant Young, Wake Forest University

Continuing an Owl Tradition

Seniors celebrated with alumni fathers (and grandfathers!) at the annual Legacy Luncheon at the Crescent Club in April.

Louis Allen ’19 and Bo Allen ’86

Mott Ford ’83 and Call Ford ’19

Porter Feild ’83 and Eddie Feild ’19

Jim Burnett ’83 and Scott Burnett ’19

Alumni Executive Board President Jason Fair ’89, left, and Board of Trustees Chair Sam Graham ’80, right, joined Headmaster Pete Sanders at the annual Legacy Luncheon.

Glenn Crosby ’77 and Walker Crosby ’19

Craig Christenbury ’83 and Stephen Christenbury ’19

Wade Harrison ’19 and Wade Harrison ’87

Griff Griffin ’19 and Mark Griffin ’88

Gentry Harwood ’19 and Jim Harwood ’83

Stilly McFadden ’75 and Stillman McFadden ’19

Lee McWaters ’84 and Smith McWaters ’19

Thomas Quinlen ’93, William Quinlen ’19, and Bill Quinlen ’64

Philip Wunderlich ’90, Philip Wunderlich ’19, and Kent Wunderlich ’66

Hall Upshaw ’19 and Walker Upshaw ’84

Rollin Riggs ’78 and Caleb Riggs ’19

Sellers Shy ’90 and Sellers Shy ’19

Fencing Three-Peat at State Tournament

The fencing team dominated the state championship in Nashville April 6, claiming their seventh overall trophy and their thirdconsecutive state championship. They earned the state title thanks to strong performances in each weapon competition. Finishing in the top-three slots of their weapons competitions were Ethan Lam ’19 and Johnathan Ray ’22, epee; Jonathan Huang ’20, Samuel Lim ’22, and Ray, foil; and Huang, saber. Huang took first in the saber competition. Pictured above, front row, from left, are Ray, Lim, Huang, Omar Alyousef ’21; back row, Coach Brad Kroeker, Daniel Lim ’20, Kyan Ramsay ’23, Evan Boswell ’21, Coach Sergey Petrosyan.

Hescock Wins National Art Medal

Jackson Hescock ’19, who came to MUS as a senior after his family’s move from Texas last summer, quickly made his mark in the community. Starting an independent study with Acting Art Department Chair Grant Burke, the artistically-minded student completed a painting titled Please which won Best-In-Show at the Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. His regional honors included Honorable Mention for his portfolio, four Gold Key awards, one Silver Key award, the Senior Division Painting Award, and an American Visions nomination, qualifying him for national competition this spring in the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers’ Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in New York City. In national competition, Please was awarded a Gold Medal and an American Visions Medal. Hescock is pictured here at the awards ceremony, which took place at Carnegie Hall. His painting was on display May 31 - June 8 in the Art.Write.Now. 2019 National Exhibition at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design’s New School and at the Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery. Nearly 340,000 works of art and writing were submitted to the 2019 Scholastic Awards, which have celebrated teen artists and writers from across the country since 1923.

The painting “Please” by Jackson Hescock won a national Gold Medal and American Visions Medal in competition this spring.

Bubones Win Title XII

Latin scholars won first place – for the 12th consecutive year – in the 63rd annual Tennessee Junior Classical League convention in Chattanooga this spring. A total of 32 schools from across the state competed in the event. MUS fielded a delegation of 41 Upper School and Lower School scholars, all of whom contributed in some way to the 1,421 points scored by the team. University School of Nashville came in second.

“The more of these competitions that we win, the more pressure our students face,” said Instructor in Latin Ryan Sellers. “Yet, as the results of this year’s competition indicate, they handled this pressure with remarkable aplomb. They worked hard, they prepared themselves diligently, and they lived up to the high standards of excellence that the MUS Latin program is known for.”

Sellers noted these highlights: Top scorers were Will Schuessler ’21, Ryan Peng ’21, Mark Hieatt ’22, Forest Rudd ’22, and Kerry Zhao ’22, all of whom earned enough points to finish in the individual Top 12.

The Latin II Certamen team came in first place.

Akbar Latif ’21 was elected 1st vice president of TJCL for the 2019-20 school year. It is the first time in almost a decade that MUS will have a student officer in TJCL. Sellers credited the Latin Club co-consuls, Tyran Williams ’19 and Loyd Templeton ’19, for helping lead the team to victory. “The five years they’ve invested in our Latin program have meant something to them, and they both wanted to make sure that this incredible winning streak did not come to an end on their watch.”

Latin Appreciation Month

For six years now, the Latin program has successfully petitioned the Tennessee governor to proclaim April Latin Language Appreciation Month. The proclamation, signed by Gov. Bill Lee, affirms the value of Latin and recognizes the MUS student-created motto “Musica e Montibus Fluit” (“Music Flows from the Mountains”) as the honorary state motto for the month of April. Pictured above with the proclamation are Latin Club Co-Consuls Tyran Williams ’19 and Loyd Templeton ’19.

Hampton Named to ALL-USA Baseball

USA Today named Maurice Hampton ’19 to its ALL-USA Baseball: First Team in June. The ALL-USA Baseball Teams for the 2018-19 season were selected by the USA Today high school sports staff based on performance, level of competition, and strength of schedule. Hampton also was named 2019 Baseball Player of the Year by The Commercial Appeal. The DII-AA Mr. Baseball award winner hit .480 with 10 home runs this season and became the first player in Tennessee to win Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball in the same year.

Photo by Joe Rondone, Courtesy of TheCommercialAppeal

Sowell Receives Distinguished Teaching Award

The Distinguished Teaching Award is a permanent endowment fund established in 1990 through a generous bequest by John Murry Springfield. Springfield joined the faculty in 1958 and served as an instructor in English and mathematics until 1971. From 1971 until his death in August 1989, Springfield served as principal of the Hull Lower School. The monetary award is given annually to a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in both the classroom and in extracurricular activities.

Analice Sowell was busy researching and testing new cellulose fiber applications and markets at Buckeye Technologies in 2007 when her friend and fellow chemist Rosalyn Croce, then a new instructor at MUS, called her about an opening in the school’s Science Department. Sowell had taught before, and, intrigued by the opportunity to return to the classroom, decided to apply. After a successful interview with then-Headmaster Ellis Haguewood, Upper School Principal Barry Ray, Science Department Chair Al Shaw, and Academic Dean Rick Broer, she exchanged her Buckeye Lab key card for an MUS lanyard and gradebook and began life as an Owl.

Now the Science Department chair – and the newest recipient of the school’s Distinguished Teaching Award – Sowell is an indispensable faculty member whose skills as an educator derive from an inquisitive mind, a passion for teaching and learning, and a genuine interest in her students.

In the McCaughan Science Center, her home away from home, she challenges boys daily to think critically and isn’t afraid to hold them accountable when they don’t. (“That lets them know that someone is watching. And cares,” she says.) Although her classroom is nononsense, she has been known to use funny voices to emphasize a point. She takes a group photo of her homeroom students at the end of their four years with her and frames a copy for each boy to keep. (Her copy, she asks each of them to sign.) And every Halloween, she and

Croce don witch costumes and devote the day to ghoulish lab experiments they know the students will enjoy.

Outside of the classroom, Sowell has served for years on the school’s Graduation Committee. Her role as the robe distributor encompasses ordering faculty regalia and fitting each senior in the right-length gown, ensuring he looks his best for his crowning ceremonies.

Sowell is also a certified CPRAED instructor through the American Heart Association and helps oversee the school’s emergency plan. She was instrumental in the installation of nine AEDs on campus and has trained dozens of fellow faculty and staff members in

AED use and other safety procedures over the past 12 years.

In addition to leading, mentoring, and supporting her colleagues as chair of the department, she is involved in the wider science community.

As an active member of the American Chemical Society, she has chaired the Memphis chapter and was named Local Outreach Volunteer of the Year in 2014 for her efforts to get students in the community excited about chemistry. She has also served ACS at the national level, writing curricula for National Chemistry Week and for “Chemists Celebrate Earth Day” programs.

Students Tre Johnson ’20 and Henry Bridgforth ’20 congratulate Science Department Chair Analice Sowell on receiving the Distinguished Teaching Award.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in teaching from Christian Brothers University, and in 2014 her alma mater honored her with the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. This spring CBU’s Department of Education named her an Outstanding Alumnus.

In 2018 her peers in the ASM International Materials Education Foundation presented her with the Kishor M. Kulkarni Distinguished High School Teacher Award. Established in 2007, this award recognizes the accomplishments of a high school teacher in the United States who has demonstrated a significant, long-term impact on pre-college students.

With her trademark dry wit and selfdeprecating humor, Sowell continually goes above and beyond to share her love of science – from creating raku pottery in the lab kiln, to inviting an orthopedic surgeon to share his expertise in the classroom, to leading students on an annual trip to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It’s no surprise that she is a recipient of the school’s John M. Nail Outstanding Teaching Award (2014). This year, her love of chemistry and inspired teaching prompted her fifth-period students to gift her with an embroidered badge for her lab coat – featuring a beaker over open flame – that reads, “It’s Lit.”

Upon receiving the 2019 Distinguished Teaching Award, Sowell credited her husband, Michael, their 7-year-old son, Patrick, and her parents, Nancy and James Hosey, for providing her the time necessary to succeed at her career.

“I have a very big support system at home. Even Patrick understands sometimes Mommy has to grade papers and go in on weekends to set up labs,” she said. “I couldn’t do it without them.”

The reasons she loves her job? Support, autonomy, and students who want to learn. “Even if they think they can’t do chemistry, they really can,” she says. “And the administration hired me to be an expert in my field and allows me to do that. I love teaching. I love my students. I love MUS.”

- Marci Woodmansee

Carolyn Ann Smith Rudolph, 1932-2019

Carolyn Rudolph, wife of legendary Head Football Coach Jake Rudolph, passed away April 22, 2019, at the age of 86. Carolyn and Jake were married for 55 years until his death in 2008. She had undergraduate and master’s degrees in education from Memphis State University and, as stated in her obituary in The Commercial Appeal, “… found her calling as a teacher and taught for many years at Presbyterian Day School. She was a remarkable woman and lived a full life. She served so many roles: wife, mother, teacher, football mom, church leader, musician, grandmother, and great-grandmother.”

Rudolph and many family members were present for the dedication of the Jacob Courtnay Rudolph Plaza at MUS during Homecoming 2017. Then-Headmaster Ellis Haguewood devoted part of his Rudolph tribute to Mrs. Rudolph, lauding her career and her support for her husband’s work at MUS.

“All of us hold Coach Rudolph’s wife, Carolyn, in high esteem … I am thrilled that she is here today,” Haguewood said. “A teacher at PDS for many years, Carolyn influenced the lives of hundreds of boys, most of whom would go on to graduate from MUS, many of whom would play football for Coach Rudolph here. Jake could not have accomplished what he did without her. They lived together on campus for almost four decades and reared three fine sons, all of whom had the privilege of playing for their dad. Carolyn’s hospitality, devotion, and friendliness permeated the campus, and her steady presence and firm hand provided constant support.”

Carolyn Rudolph is survived by her sons, Stephen ’74, Courtnay ’77, and David ’81; nine grandchildren, including Owls Stephen ’00 and Jake ’10; and four great-grandchildren.

Carolyn Rudolph was on hand with sons Courtnay ’77, David ’81, and Stephen ’74 for the dedication of the Jacob Courtnay Rudolph Plaza during Homecoming 2017.

Communications Director Awarded for Service

In front of the standup work files on her desk, Director of Communications Liz Copeland keeps a copy of the Desiderata – an early 1920s prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann – that speaks of happiness, truthfulness, and the importance of remaining steady and peaceful amid the busyness of the day. Words to live by in the Communications Office, where on any given day, Copeland might be working on an award nomination for a colleague, admissions materials for the new year, a marketing plan, a schoolwide email blast, or stories for the alumni magazine. Or more likely, all of the above.

Ben Hale in honor of his wife – a valued member of the staff for 24 years – upon her retirement in 1998. The award is presented annually to a member of the staff at the year-end faculty luncheon. Copeland joins a list of outstanding awardees, most recently Controller Beth Hunt, former Director of Counseling Bebe Jonakin, and Assistant Headmaster Barry Ray.

Presenting the award, Headmaster Pete Sanders commended Copeland for her unwavering commitment to excellence and her expert oversight of print and digital communications for the school. “She has improved the content and style of MUS Today, Inside MUS, the Annual Report, the website, and our digital media during her tenure.”

school, she is a regular and welcoming presence at important special events as well as everyday activities. With discretion and care, she remains focused on telling the school’s story – regularly taking more than her fair share of the workload and not stopping until the job is done.

Director of Advancement Perry Dement says Copeland has a thorough understanding of the school’s present combined with an enthusiasm for its future, and that she serves as a great representative of the values that the school promotes: “Liz truly subscribes to the ‘do the right thing’ attitude that is so MUS.”

Taking the words of the Desiderata to heart – “At least I try!” she says –Copeland deftly handles the wide-ranging tasks that come her way, giving each assignment – big or small – the care and time it needs. She was recognized for her dedicated efforts this spring with the Jean Barbee Hale Award for Outstanding Service.

The Hale Award was endowed by

Before joining the school in 2012 as managing editor and communications specialist, Copeland had a 30-year newspaper and magazine career. During nearly two decades in newspapers, she served on the staffs for The Orange County Register in Santa Ana, CA, including as food editor and featuressection page designer; and the SunSentinel in Fort Lauderdale, FL, as food columnist and assistant features editor. She has worked as a freelance writer and editor since 1999, including for Sunshine and City & Shore magazines in South Florida, among other publications.

Copeland was promoted to director of the Communications Office in 2015. An exceedingly loyal supporter of the

Not a fan of the spotlight, Copeland is content to work behind the scenes in ensuring the school always looks its best. She is known by friends and colleagues for the faith that informs her actions and her work. Expressing gratitude upon receiving the 2019 Hale Award, she praised her coworkers on the Communications team –Dement, Marci Woodmansee, Rebecca Greer, and LeeAnn Christopherson – as well as the greater community. “It’s such a blessing for me to work here – that’s really because of all you, wonderful people. I have tremendous respect for the work you do.”

Away from the bustle of the Communications Office, Copeland enjoys spending time with her husband, Dennis Copeland – a fellow newspaper professional who was the director of photography at The Miami Herald and The Commercial Appeal – and younger son, Nick, at their home in Olive Branch, MS. Their older son, Ted; his wife, Lindsey; and first grandson, 1-year-old Landon, live in Raleigh, NC. It was Ted and Lindsey who gave her the copy of the Desiderata, which sits next to a photo of newborn Landon. She gets together with them, in person or via video chat, whenever she can – perhaps practicing the closing words of Ehrmann’s poem: “Strive to be happy.”

From left, Hale Award recipient and Communications Director Liz Copeland, Lauren Hale, Steve Hale, and Headmaster Pete Sanders

Seniors Honor Mullins with Nail Award

BY DANIEL BLACK ’18

Nominations for the John M. Nail Outstanding Teaching Award are made each year by a selection committee of student leaders from the senior class, and the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award is determined by a majority vote of the class. The recipient receives a handsome salary stipend, and money is made available for professional development and departmental resources.

At graduation each year, the announcement of the John M. Nail Outstanding Teaching award recipient is a highly anticipated moment. The graduating seniors wait in earnest to see which faculty member garnered the majority of their votes, while faculty members wonder if it will be a moment they will never forget.

For Wayne Mullins, instructor in science, it was that moment – and a bit of a shock. As he realized Senior Class President John Mann ’19 was describing him, Mullins grabbed the nearest hand – which belonged to Instructor in Language Jenny Pratt – and held on.

“My head was spinning,” he says. A graduate of the University of Memphis (B.S.) and the University of Alabama (M.S.), Mullins was a physics lab instructor in college before becoming a course instructor at Memphis and Ole Miss. However, he noticed that kids coming to college weren’t ready for college physics. “I wanted to change that. In 1986 I realized I wanted to become a high school physics teacher.”

Mullins left Ole Miss for White Station High School, where he taught physics for 12 years and was named the Outstanding Teacher for 1993 by the American Association of Physics Teachers. He also received the Distinguished Teacher Award presented by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars in 1994.

At White Station he taught for roughly a decade with Math Instructor Nancy Gates. “We were a team,” he says. “She would introduce the math, and I would use it within 72 hours.”

Gates eventually left for MUS, and Mullins took a position out of town, but before he left, then-Headmaster

Ellis Haguewood asked Mullins to contact him if he returned to Memphis, promising he would have a job ready.

Mullins spent a decade teaching at Denham Springs High School in Louisiana and at Catholic High School and Randolph School in Huntsville, AL. In 2006 he was named Alabama’s Teacher of the Year by the University of Alabama. But he did return to Memphis, teaching a year at Central High School before the headmaster fulfilled his promise, bringing him to MUS in 2008.

Over the past 11 years, he has taught AP Physics 1, 2, B, and C, and his students have consistently earned college credit. Since 2012 his class average scores on the AP Physics C - Electricity and Magnetism exam have ranged from 4.36 to a perfect score of 5.00.

He was named the 2012 recipient of the John M. Nail Award but was even more surprised the second time his name was called.

“It’s just as humbling and gratifying, and also just as puzzling to think how I can get on to the kids all year long, and they still respect me. I don’t know how they do that.”

According to the students, it has everything to do with his dedication to their well-being.

“I have never met a teacher so devoted to making sure his students excel,” says 2018-19 Student Council President J.J. Johnson ’19. “I have never met a teacher who will give up hours of weekend time to drive to school and help his students on homework, concepts, or make-up lessons and tests. I have never met a teacher who has given his own cell phone number to the class and asked them to call whenever, no matter the time. This award is definitely well-deserved.”

Grant Young ’19, who took AP Physics 1 with Johnson, agrees. “Mr. Mullins

embodies all of the great qualities that MUS strives to instill in its students. He has effective strategies for presenting physics material for students, while also giving them insight to the physics and general science coursework they will encounter in college. Beyond that, he goes out of his way to know every student in all his classes by talking to them about their interests, extracurricular involvements, and progress on college admissions.”

Bailey Keel ’19 never had Mullins as a teacher, but his time spent as a member of his homeroom had a profound effect. “He showed genuine interest in all students, including those he didn’t teach. Every week he would share stories from his own path and offer advice from his own experiences. He makes an effort to form a personal relationship with every student and inspires them to be their best.”

Mullins does not take the honor for granted.

“Ultimately, this award reminds me of the award that the Wizard presented to the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz – ‘A heart is not judged by how much you love but how much you are loved by others.’”

John M. Nail Outstanding Teaching Award recipient Wayne Mullins and his wife, Florence

Photo by Kathy Daniel Patterson

Counce Celebrates 25 Years

As a student at MUS, Mark Counce ’77 enjoyed an active role in campus life, playing basketball for three years, serving on the staffs of The Owl’s Hoot and The MUSe, and participating in the Pep Club. He was an enthusiastic member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and regularly delivered the Friday morning chapel devotional. He served as president of the Civic Service Club, and despite all these extracurriculars, still managed to stay on the Dean’s List. He was known as an allaround good guy.

As a faculty member today –recently honored for achieving his 25th year of service at the school – Counce is still considered an all-around good guy and remains as important to campus

out appropriate disciplinary measures within the halls of MUS. As the assistant Upper School principal in charge of discipline, it falls to Counce to determine the best way to evaluate – and shape –the behavior of teenage boys.

Students know that they should do all they can to avoid hearing their name on the morning announcements with the admonishment, “You all need to go see Coach Counce, immediately.” But when they forget – as they make that long walk to his office to line up and receive the sentence for whatever infraction they have committed – they no doubt take comfort in the knowledge that Coach Counce is fair; that he has been in their shoes; and that his deep, abiding faith always underlies his actions.

Faculty members who reach the 25-year-mark are traditionally deemed honorary alumni. Those who are already alumni receive an honorary degree instead. At the year-end faculty luncheon, Headmaster Pete Sanders presented Counce with an Honorary Master of Arts in recognition of his service from 1983 to 1993 and 2004 to today.

In commending him for his commitment to MUS, Sanders noted that Counce became interested in coaching while playing basketball for Coach Jerry Peters. After majoring in math at the University of Arkansas and teaching for a while, he wound up back at his alma mater in 1983, teaching math and serving as an assistant basketball coach. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Memphis in 1989.

memorable moments during his career, including helping Coach Matt Bakke take the 2007 basketball team to the state tournament after Coach Peters suffered a stroke. His sons Stephen and Robert were on that team, and they came home with the championship. He was also courtside as Andrew played on the 2014 state runner-up team.

In 2008 Counce was honored with the Distinguished Teaching Award. Among the tributes was this from fellow Math Instructor Nancy Gates: “He has a rapport with students that instills in them the desire to achieve. Mark’s easy manner, his sense of humor, and his obvious desire to help all go together to make his students feel comfortable and confident.”

Coach Peters – who knew Counce as a student, a player, an assistant coach, an opposing coach, and a friend, and had observed him as a father and a husband, – said this: “In all these areas of life, I have seen the same energy, enthusiasm, and positive attitude that allow him to attain a high level of excellence. Truly, Mark is a distinguished teacher and a unique person.”

life at 6191 Park Avenue as he was in 1977. Counce may be best known today for the wisdom and mercy he employs in monitoring conduct and meting

Counce’s wife, Angela, served as the Athletic Department’s administrative assistant here for seven years, from 2004-11, and they raised three boys who attended MUS – Stephen ’07, Robert ’09, and Andrew ’14, plus daughter, Julia, Hutchison Class of 2016.

Counce has enjoyed some

Fellow classmate and Academic Dean Flip Eikner ’77 credits the sense of humor that Gates noted as the essential element that makes Counce so good at his job today. “I think he’s the embodiment of something Headmaster Emeritus Ellis Haguewood used to talk about in characterizing MUS – that we take our jobs very seriously, but not ourselves. Mark maintains a cheerful sense of humor, despite the seriousness of his responsibility.”

Headmaster Sanders called Counce’s job a tough one. “But he does it with grace,” he said. “I suspect most boys know that he truly cares about them – or they will realize it someday!”

- Marci Woodmansee

Headmaster Pete Sanders, right, awards Mark Counce an Honorary Master of Arts degree for 25 years of service.

M Jim Buchman Retires from Art Department

ore than 1,400 seventhgrade boys brought some 1,400 animal and monster head sculptures to life in the basement of the Fisher Fine Arts Wing during the past 13 years, thanks to the inspirational guidance of one man – creative force Jim Buchman. From 2006 until his retirement in May, the art instructor and sculptor brought skill, vision, and good humor to his Art 7, Sculpture, and 3-D Design classrooms – showing students every day what he meant when he asserted in a chapel assembly this year: “Art can change your life!”

A native of Memphis, Buchman received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1970 and created and exhibited art for years in New York City. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1977 and a National Endowment for the Arts award in 1980.

Eventually, he wound his way back to Memphis, joining the faculty at MUS and continuing his own art. In his midtown Memphis studio, one of his most impressive bodies of work – which he completed with the help of funding from the 2008-09 Hale Fellowship for Faculty Development – involved creating imaginative column sculptures in cast concrete, employing a mechanized device he invented himself.

These works were the subject of an exhibit at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens in 2012. Describing Buchman as an alchemist in concrete, Dixon director Kevin Sharp said this: “His forms are reminiscent of both daring modernist abstractions from the early 20th century and antiquity’s most elegant caryatids.”

Acting Art Department Chair Grant Burke celebrated Buchman’s creative vision at a retirement chapel in his honor: “One of my favorite Mr. Buchman installations is in the permanent collection of the Memphis Botanic

Garden. As you leave the main building and step onto the patio, you find yourself right in front of three of the columns from his show at the Dixon. They strike me as interesting every time I see them … They are incredibly preplanned and well thought-out but still contain happy accidents. They are both perfect and imperfect.

“What makes art real – authentic–is when the artist includes a piece of himself,” Burke continued, “ ... a sense of spirit or passion. Those columns that I love will long outlive me and everyone else in this room. They will inspire generations to come. They will challenge people to think critically, be disciplined, look for the beautiful, find a passion, and create – just like Mr. Buchman challenged you in the seventh grade. He has left us a remarkable legacy.”

Buchman’s curiosity – which he identified in his Hale Fellowship proposal as the driving force behind his sculpting and teaching – is an important part

of that legacy. His wife, painter Nancy Cheairs, has also left her mark at the school; as the school’s Artist-in-Residence in 2013, Cheairs created a painting titled The Journey that now hangs in the Campus Center gallery.

At the retirement chapel for Buchman, Headmaster Pete Sanders presented him with a school chair featuring an engraved plaque that read: With grateful appreciation to James W. Buchman, Instructor in Fine Arts, 2006 –2019, friend and leader. He was also feted at a retirement party at the Dixon.

Buchman expressed appreciation for his time teaching as he reflected on his tenure at year-end. “The boys have helped me keep a youthful approach. I thought that when I left here, my hair would fall out, and my beard – if I grew it – would be white!” he said, laughing.

“I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. Best job I’ve ever had.”

- Marci Woodmansee

Family, friends, and fellow faculty celebrated Jim Buchman at a retirement party at the Dixon in May. Pictured from left are Chris and Maureen Perkins, Jim and Nancy Wallace, Nancy Cheairs and Jim Buchman, and Ginny and Bryan Nearn ’59.

Hiltonsmith Portrait Unveiled

John Hiltonsmith, music instructor from 1984 until his passing in 2014, was memorialized with speeches and music as his portrait was unveiled in the Dining Hall February 21. The painting is the 14th in the Alumni Executive Board’s Faculty Portrait Series. Family and friends shed a few tears listening to moving – and amusing – remembrances and to the a cappella choir he founded, Beg To Differ, led by Director of Music Matt Tutor ’91. Tutor described how his former teacher convinced him, fatefully, to stay with music in college, rather than changing his major.

Academic Dean Flip Eikner ’77 remembered Hiltonsmith’s versatility: “John lived his life far too fast for leisurely acquaintance. He had too much to do, and, man, he could do a lot: sing,

conduct, play multiple instruments, arrange music, engineer recordings and sound boards, teach, orate, act, refinish furniture, refurb houses, refurb cars, refurb pipe organs, tune pianos, build, paint, and repair plumbing and electricity – you name it.”

Julia Hiltonsmith spoke about how realistic the painting by Bart Lindstrom was, how she could nearly smell her father’s Burberry cologne. “I almost expect his lips to part to whistle some tune, or for him to clear his throat in that rhythmic way that he used to,” said Julia, who was accompanied by her sister, Jennifer, and Hiltonsmith’s wife, Sherry Hiltonsmith.

“Seeing this portrait has reminded me of all the things I loved about my dad, and I hope it does the same for everyone else.”

An excerpt of the Tutor tribute to John Hiltonsmith

Remembering a Great Teacher

BY MATT TUTOR ’91

1927 Kansas City and The Bluegrass Gospel Medley [which Beg To Differ performed at the unveiling] were the first two barbershop pieces I’d ever heard, and I heard them both on a cassette John Hiltonsmith gave me when I was a freshman and new student at MUS, basically terrified of everything. But I could sing a bit, and I’d been studying music most of my life, so I ended up in choir, directed by the strangest person I’d ever met. He was quirky, silly, irreverent, and funny in a way that made you roll your eyes – only because you were too embarrassed to laugh out loud at things that were so incredibly corny. But he had a love of sitting at a piano and playing one song in two keys simultaneously, one key for each hand. I’d never met anyone like him, nor have I since.

I have heard story after story from student after student about how John changed the way they heard music, the way they listened to music, the way they experienced music. Students, now adults, who still listen to Mozart because of John’s Music Appreciation class; students who still sing barbershop because of Beg To Differ; students who had an immeasurably greater theatrical experience because of help, or suggestions, or assistance they got from John.

Without John Hiltonsmith, my life would have looked very, very different. I will always be grateful for the lessons and instruction I got from him in music. … But, it was the non-musical lessons that I got from him that had the greatest and longest-lasting effect on me and my life.

Julia Hiltonsmith, Sherry Hiltonsmith, and Jennifer Hiltonsmith and her husband, Miller Pipkin, attended the unveiling of the portrait of John Hiltonsmith in February.

I have two very brief stories that sum up everything he meant to me. When I was a freshman, I walked into his room. … He was listening to a beautiful song that I’d never heard before, And So It Goes, by Billy Joel. About halfway through the song, I looked at him, and he was crying. It had an amazing effect on me. I later figured out that [seeing his emotion] gave me permission to love music with the passion that I do, to experience music with the passion that I do.

Years later, about halfway through my second semester in college at the University of Tennessee, I’d come home and stopped by to say hello. John asked me how it was going, and I told him I had dropped out of the music program and switched my major to international business. Now, I’ve been “called out” before, but this dressing down was particularly powerful. He was not polite. It was the very first time I remember getting the inkling of a belief that’s become one of my core beliefs: that there is a responsibility that goes along with ability. An athlete who has a natural ability in sports has a responsibility to find out just how far that ability goes. It was the first time I’d ever thought about it in music. He closed with, “You need to get yourself back to Knoxville and change

your major back.” And I did.

I heard a story, once, of a virtuoso violinist who’d finished a concert. The entire concert hall was on its feet, and the musician was backstage in his dressing room. The stage manager came to ask him, “Are you going to go play an encore? They’re cheering for you.” And he said, “No. I’m not. … Do you see the gentleman in the front box, who’s not clapping? That man happens to be my teacher. Had he been standing, I’d have known that I played my best, and that I earned the right to come out and play another piece of music. But, he’s not standing, so I did not make him proud. I didn’t quite earn that right. So, I’m not going to go play an encore.”

As intense as this may sound, I have had two teachers in my life whom I hold in that kind of regard. One of them is John Hiltonsmith. Every day, I walk in here and wonder, at the end of the day, will John be standing? Will I, will we, have done his legacy proud – Studio Band, Beg To Differ, the immense talent bubbling up from everywhere at MUS? It’s one of the greatest honors of my life to have known him, to have studied under him, to be here telling you all about him. Thank you.

An excerpt of the Eikner tribute to John Hiltonsmith

An Unforgettable Colleague

BY FLIP EIKNER ’77

The medieval battle mace hanging on John Hiltonsmith’s office wall was a prop from one of our theater productions. In truth, that mace’s spiky, murderous-looking head was actually a soft, harmless Nerf ball. Just like that mace, John Hiltonsmith’s personality was not so much a gradually acquired taste as one that bonked you over the head – softly and harmlessly – but a bonk over the head nonetheless. Although dealing with John never left you unnerved, it did often leave you a little bit “nerfed.”

In one of my first-ever conversations with the goofball John Hiltonsmith, right after his hiring in 1984 (we were just one year apart, in both age and date of employment) … He ran up urgently and demanded, “Quick! Ask me if I’m an orange!” “Are you an orange?” I asked. He paused, looked at me like I was an utter idiot, and said, “No,” and walked away.

Goofball John loved to “nerf” people out of their comfort zones. Our accounting administrator, Melissa Saenger, remembers herself as a prissy little diva when, as a youngster, she appeared in my production of The Sound of Music (which John musicdirected), as the youngest Von Trapp daughter, Gretl. John, in retribution, forever-after called her “Gruntl.” He would frequently challenge alumni in the hallway, “Didn’t you graduate? Why are you still hanging around? Should we be calling the police?”

John regularly invited me to accompany him and Beg To Differ on their periodic contest trips so I could help chaperone and also direct the choir’s stage presence during performances.

In The Music Man in 1988, Hiltonsmith, Michael Ford ’88, Martel King ‘90, and Tutor ’91 portray the Quartertones as they receive a mission from Mayor Shin (Michael Austin ‘88).

On a trip to New Orleans, John took me – awestruck – on a tour of the historic Saenger Theatre, where he tirelessly volunteered his unremunerated skills to repair the Robert Morton Wonder Organ. On another trip, this time to New York City, John and I had lunch together at the historic Stage Door Deli. John ordered the Reuben, and I ordered the pastrami. When the waiter asked John what he wanted to drink, he ordered a vanilla milkshake. Then the waiter turned to me, eyed me up and down, and asked, “And whaddabout choo? A Diet Coke?” For months afterward, whenever I passed Hiltonsmith in the hall, he would ask, “And whaddabout choo? A Diet Coke?” And I’d answer, “Shuddup.” And he’d answer, “Aw. Want a hug?”

An ever-present sound in the MUS music studio was John Hiltonsmith, between class periods, pounding away at the finger-twisting piano solo in Billy Joel’s Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. And there the students would find him when they arrived for class or for rehearsal. While many teachers self-consciously hide their preparations behind the scenes and present themselves before their students as unimpeachable experts, John continually laid bare all his imperfections. That they saw him practicing this extraordinarily difficult piece, and most frequently just blowing it and starting over, invited many of them over time to see whether they, too, could play Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. And it taught them the importance of tireless practice.

Building their confidence to give any challenge a try is precisely why so many of John’s students triumphed as his occasional soloists, or student conductors, or, later, as a cappella choir members, or even leaders at college or university, or, perhaps, even went on – like Will Mays ’94 – to assume leadership of the Memphisarea men’s barbershop group, succeeding one of that group’s most notable prior directors, Mr. John Hiltonsmith himself.

It is precisely because John’s warmly unintimidating, fun-loving manner

so successfully invited his students to put themselves out there and lead as musicians themselves that, when he died in 2014, just one week before the annual Winter Concert, I could walk into the Beg To Differ class and find that one of the students (Nicholas Manley ’15) was already leading his fellow singers in vocal warm-ups. And why one of BTD’s recent alums (Sam Shankman ’13), freshly in town from college, could step in without losing a beat and conduct the choir’s concert performance. And why another of John’s former students (Matt Tutor ’91) could merge seamlessly into conducting the Studio Band in that concert and then step into John’s shoes as our director of music.

John leaves a huge legacy, and I think that would have pleased him because of how very much weight he gave to history. He loved the history of palace theaters, and the history of film, and the history of the Broadway musical, and the history of Ardent Studios, and Memphis music, and the origins of power pop in a rock group called Big Star. John loved the part that MUS has played in Memphis music history. John Hiltonsmith loved the history of the Beatles. And he loved teaching music history and made his students love it, too.

In one especially striking example, John brought history to bear upon his teaching and upon his students’ musicianship. In the summer of 2005, Beg To Differ enjoyed a rare opportunity to visit France and stay at the Dalle château, La Giraudière, culminating in a performance in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Rehearsal for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity did not go well. The boys had stayed up too late the night before and were inattentive, and their performance was flat and lackluster. John could have thrown a tantrum, and ranted, and threatened, but that was not his style. So he sat the boys down and told them the history of the song they were rehearsing, Precious Lord.

Its composer, Thomas Dorsey, son of a minister, had traveled to St. Louis to sing

at a revival and had therefore left his very pregnant wife, Nettie, in Chicago. During the revival, Dorsey was handed a telegram that informed him that Nettie had died in childbirth but that he had a son. Devastated, Dorsey returned to Chicago, but when he arrived, he found that his baby son had died as well. Hiltonsmith told the boys that Dorsey was so griefstricken that he wanted to die himself, but then he sat down at the piano and composed Precious Lord from the depths of his suffering.

There’s no way I will be able emotionally to get through reading Dorsey’s lyrics now, so I invite you to look them up later and possibly weep as the boys did after they sang that song in the most compelling, crowd-mesmerizing, unforgettable performance of their careers in the most famous cathedral in the world, and then had to be shepherded by a kindly priest to a private room to regather their emotions.

On the Saturday that we lost John, I received a call from the Headmaster, Ellis Haguewood, who said, “Have you heard that John Hiltonsmith died?” I have no idea how the rest of that conversation went. I just remember hanging up with the very confused idea that I needed to let Mr. Haguewood know whether that rumor was true. Of course, it couldn’t be. This was just John’s sprung sense of humor, and we were being “nerfed” yet again. I spent about an hour searching the internet and repeatedly dialing John’s cell phone so he could laugh with me over this ridiculous story going around. I got no answer, and a Facebook post from a reliable source eventually left no doubt. So I called back Mr. Haguewood and reported that I had discovered the rumor to be true. He responded, gently, “I’m sorry, Flip. I did not call earlier for confirmation. I was calling with information.”

As you would guess, I was finally unnerved by John Hiltonsmith. And I felt then as I have felt ever since: I could really go for a hug.

Cross Country Coaching Changes

Assistant Lower School Principal and Math

Instructor Joe Tyler is stepping down from his role as head coach of the crosscountry program, a position he has held since 2000, to return to the basketball coaching staff, serving as freshman team coach. In addition, he will assist the track team in the spring.

For the last 19 seasons, Coach Tyler has mentored several outstanding individual runners – including Donald McClure ’06, Ken Haltom ’07, Pierce Rose ’15, and many others – but perhaps his greatest efforts have been helping boys whose hearts were bigger than their talent learn that with effort and discipline they could help the team be successful.

During Tyler’s tenure the cross-country Owls won six regional titles and twice finished as state runner-up.

Tyler joined the faculty in 1999 after working as an assistant basketball coach at Christian Brothers University and Houston High School. He served as the MUS freshman basketball coach from 1999 to 2016.

Assuming the leadership of the crosscountry program is English Instructor and previous Assistant Cross-Country Coach Jonas Holdeman. Assisting with the program since joining the MUS faculty in 2012, Holdeman has tremendous credentials, having earned a Level III certificate, the highest level one can achieve, in endurance training from USA Track & Field. He has served as a USA Track & Field coaching instructor

Fencing Coaches Switch Roles

Sergey Petrosyan will be the new head coach for the fencing team as Brad Kroeker is stepping down from the role.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Sergey coaching our fencers, and we look forward to many years of successful training for the team,” Kroeker said.

Petrosyan, below, has served five years as assistant coach, leading the foil squad to four state team championships and overseeing significant improvements in the fencers’ epee and saber skills.

Fencing since age 11, Petrosyan was the Armenian junior foil champion in 1987 and 1988. In 1989 he won a gold medal for the 17-19 age group in the Moldova Soviet Tournament and a silver medal in the Profsouz Tournament in the Georgia Soviet Republic. The next year he received a gold medal in the Ukrainian Open Championship. From 1990-92 he was on the Armenian National Fencing Team, and he coached the Catherine Fencing Club in Armenia from 1991-93. He received the title Master of Sport of the USSR in 1991.

Kroeker, at right, will continue to serve as assistant coach. He launched fencing at MUS in 2005 as a club sport, and in 2009 it became the 14th varsity sport. Under his leadership the Owls won state epee titles in 2008, 2010-14,

since 2004. Before MUS Holdeman served as boys head cross country and track coach at Lausanne for five years. He was previously the head coach for women’s cross country and distance running at the University of Memphis.

and 2018-19; saber titles from 2008-19, and foil titles in 2015 and 2017-19. Last year the Owls won their seventh overall state championship. MUS fencers have been selected for the USA Fencing AllAcademic-Team and all-state fencing awards.

Kroeker fenced two years at the University of Nebraska, where he received his master’s degree in music performance in 1980. He studied with M. Bella Walther of the Hungarian national saber team for two years, and he joined with Petrosyan to coach the Rhodes College club team from 1999-2004.

Joe Tyler and Matt Bakke (see story page 43) were honored by the Athletic Department this spring for their service as head coaches.

Willson Returns to the Home Court

BY DANIEL BLACK ’18

When David Willson ’99 became the fifth head basketball coach in modern school history this spring, he brought college experience both as a player and coach, most recently heading up NCAA Division III Emory & Henry College in Virginia. He also brought the legacy of Coach Jerry Peters’ teachings.

“I learned a lot of great things about basketball over the last 20 years at the college level,” Willson says, “but my core understanding of coaching and leadership was established during my time at MUS.”

Willson arrived at 6191 Park Avenue as an eighth grader when his father, the Rev. Sandy Willson, began his tenure as senior pastor at Second Presbyterian Church. While playing for the Owls under Peters, he became one of the most decorated players in program history. During his remarkable senior season, he earned All-District, All-Metro, and AllState honors, alongside being named the Division II West Region Player of the Year and a Mr. Basketball Finalist.

“My teammates and I learned from Jerry Peters, one of the greatest coaches of all-time, the value of ‘doing things right,’” Willson says. “Our focus will be upon teaching our players to take great pride in their pursuit of ‘doing things right,’ on and off the court.”

After his illustrious career at MUS, Willson played under Coach Tony Shaver at Hampden-Sydney College, where he competed in the NCAA Division III Final Four in 2003 and served as captain for the 2004 squad that captured the Old Dominion Athletic Conference title. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Willson got his first coaching job assisting Shaver at William & Mary; then he served as an assistant at both Elon and Furman.

He was named head coach at Emory

& Henry College in 2013, a basketball program that had not experienced a winning season in over 10 years. He led the program to its most successful four-year stretch in over 30 years and to its first-ever Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship in 2018. His 2017-2018 team punched its ticket to the 2018 Division III NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993. The program also drastically improved academically under Willson’s guidance, which was evident by their 3.0 team GPA three out of his last four years at the college.

Headmaster Pete Sanders and Athletic Director Bobby Alston began looking for a basketball coach after Coach Matt Bakke told them he would be stepping down from the role at season’s end (see next page). Willson’s coaching experience and familiarity with MUS made him an early frontrunner, Sanders says. “A successful and progressive coach, David also brings experience with recruiting and admissions on the college

side of the equation. He will be a valuable resource for our student-athletes who seek to play at the next level.”

Excited to have Willson back at MUS, Alston says he left his mark as a player. “We expect his ability to inspire boys to excellence will impact our students for years to come.”

Wilson announced other basketball coaching personnel for the 201920 school year this spring. Robert O’Kelley is a new part-time assistant varsity basketball coach. A Memphis native and 2001 graduate of Wake Forest University, O’Kelley brings a wealth of basketball experience. At Wake Forest he earned Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Year honors in 1998, helped the Demon Deacons to a National Invitation Tournament postseason championship in 2000, and finished as a senior leader on the team that competed in the 2001 NCAA tournament. His status as one of the best shooters in ACC history earned him ACC Legend honors in 2011.

After graduating from Wake Forest, O’Kelley pursued a professional career that included stops in Spain, Belgium, Iceland, Hungary, and Brazil. His last stop as a player was with the Memphis Grizzlies summer-league team in 2004. After retiring as a professional player, O’Kelley served as an assistant varsity basketball coach and head freshman team coach for his alma mater, White Station High School, and director of recreation at Second Presbyterian Church.

Scott Rose ’82 will lead the junior varsity team while also serving as an assistant varsity coach in this part-time position. Rose was a standout guard for Coach Jerry Peters before making the team at the University of Arkansas as a walk-on. While at Arkansas, Rose played in 86 games and averaged 17 minutes and 3 assists per game as a senior. He was a member of Coach Eddie Sutton’s 1982-83

Former Head Coach Matt Bakke passed the baton of leadership to new Head Coach David Willson this spring.

team that competed in the NCAA Sweet 16 and later played for Coach Nolan Richardson. Rose served as the MUS seventh-grade coach between 1996 and 2006 and eighth-grade coach in 2012-13.

Joe Tyler will return to basketball as ninth-grade head coach (see Cross Country on page 41).

Wes Crump will continue to lead the eighth-grade team as he enters his fifth year as head coach. In his 20th year as a middle school and high school basketball coach, Crump began coaching freshman boys basketball at Germantown High School in 2000, switching to the junior varsity team from 2013-15.

The seventh-grade team will be led by Jason Peters ’88, who enters his

ninth year in this role and his 21st year coaching. He also teaches Government and AP Government at MUS. The youngest son of Coach Jerry Peters, Jason previously served as head varsity coach at Lausanne Collegiate School (where he coached a young Marc Gasol) and Out of Door Academy in Florida.

Willson got to know players through spring and summer workouts and says he intends to ground the athletes in a winning culture.

“Learning to win the right way is extremely challenging but also valuable to the development of character. A winning culture consists of players and coaches who are willing to commit to the goals of the group, and [players]

Hoops Coach Bakke Steps Down

Matt Bakke stepped down as head basketball coach at the end of the 2018-19 season –his 20th with the program –but will remain assistant athletic director in charge of Lower School sports.

Bakke took the helm as head coach of the varsity basketball team in 201213, and in 2014 his team was runnerup for the TSSAA Division II-AA state championship. He led the Owls to the 2018 state final-four tournament after a runner-up finish in the region. A coach since 1981, he joined the school in the fall of 1999 and served 13 years as assistant basketball coach under Coach Jerry Peters. He and Coach Mark Counce helped the 2007 Owls capture the state title after Peters suffered a stroke just before the tournament.

Coach Bakke has served in many roles, including coach of the Lower School cross-country and track teams and director of the Jerry Peters Memphis

Summer Classic. He is currently the director of the Shelby League, which governs most of the Lower School sports.  Athletic Director Bobby Alston described Bakke as “an outstanding leader of our basketball program, who has given his all to our boys each and every day.”

Bakke, who recorded 109 wins during

willing to commit to the process of developing their basketball skills and their understanding of the game. Our offensive and defensive schemes will vary each season based on our personnel. However, we will always strive to be the most aggressive, prepared, and unselfish team on the floor.”

Another of Willson’s goals is for the athletes to support their peers on campus and to serve and connect in Memphis. “We will encourage our players to use their talents and gifts to positively impact others.”

In addition to his basketball coaching reponsibilities, Willson will support the Development Office as assistant director of the Annual Fund.

his tenure as head coach and took the boys to quarterfinals at state in the 2019 season, expressed appreciation for his time with the program. “It has been my great privilege to be associated with all the dedicated MUS basketball players and coaches, and especially my mentor, Coach Jerry Peters.”

With assistant coaches Trey Suddarth and Jerry Dover at his side, Coach Matt Bakke calls the next play.

Photo by Gerald Gallik Photography

Athletics Adds Conditioning Supervisor

Alex Lee joined the staff this summer in a new position as full-time strength and conditioning coach and program supervisor. Lee worked since 2014 with the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, serving as assistant strength and conditioning coach for Navy Football and head strength and conditioning coach for Navy Wrestling. Previously, he was at American University in Washington, DC, for a year, overseeing strength and conditioning for women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, women’s track distance, and wrestling. He also assisted in the design and implementation of the AU Strength and Conditioning Program for men’s and women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s soccer, and volleyball. He received a bachelor’s in nutrition sciences with a minor in coaching education from North Carolina State University and a master’s in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise physiology from Auburn University. Lee will work with Strength and Conditioning Coach Johnny Jones and the entire coaching staff.

Math Department Additions

Christopher Fiano joins the faculty as an Upper School mathematics teacher. Fiano comes from The Ellis School in Pittsburgh, PA, where he taught AP Calculus

BC, Algebra II, Geometry, Statistics, and Introduction to Engineering Design (team teaching). He previously taught mathematics at Oakland Catholic High School in Pittsburgh. He also spent several years as an adjunct instructor, teaching a variety of math and music courses at Penn State Greater Allegheny, the Community College of Allegheny County, and Westmoreland County Community College. He earned a bachelor’s in mathematics and music at Saint Vincent College and two master’s degrees, in mathematics education and vocal performance, at Duquesne University.

Shelli Henry joins the Math Department this fall as a Lower School teacher. She was previously a middleschool science teacher at

Woodland Presbyterian School, where she served as head of the Science Department and STEM Exhibition Director. Before

that, she taught math and/or science at Memphis Tutorial Association, Shadowlawn Middle School, and St. Benedict at Auburndale. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Samford University and a master’s degree in education from Union University. Henry’s oldest of three sons, Andersen, comes to MUS with her this year to join the Class of 2025.

Sabrina McCullough joins the school as an Upper School mathematics teacher. McCullough has taught middleschool and upperschool math at Evangelical Christian School since 1981, specializing in geometry. She also has taught middle-school math and pre-algebra, and she has two years of experience with dual enrollment in conjunction with the University of Memphis. A graduate of ECS, she earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from Christian Brothers University and a master’s in mathematical sciences from University of Memphis.

Math Instructor Leigh Packard, a teacher at MUS since 2010, moved from fulltime to part-time teaching as new head of the Lower School Math Lab.

Art Department Welcomes Beck

Laura Beck will join the faculty as a Lower School art instructor this fall, upon the

retirement of longtime Art Instructor Jim Buchman (see story page 37). The wife of Head Soccer Coach and Science Instructor Vincent Beck, she comes to MUS from Collierville High School, where she taught Art I and II since 2018. Prior to that she taught at St. Benedict at Auburndale, serving as department chair, writing curriculum for the Graphic Design class, and teaching Art I, Drawing and Painting, Advanced Art, Ceramics, and AP Art. A freelance graphic designer since 2007, Beck earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Memphis, and she is currently a graduate student in art education.

Director of Security

Appointed

Kevin Brown joined the staff this summer in a newly created position as director of security. Lt. Brown has been a member of the Memphis Police Department since 1997, serving as a patrolman, school resource officer, violent crimes investigator, station supervisor, and gang response team commander of the

Multi-Agency Gang Unit. He also served as operations manager for the Men in Blue private security firm from 200618. He earned his bachelor’s degree from LeMoyneOwen College, and he has certification in the following areas: Dignitary Protection (2016), Advanced Supervisor (2017), and International Chiefs of Police Leadership (2018). His many MPD citations include awards for best overall unit, exemplary conduct, community service, expert firearms, special operations, and Investigator of the Year. A recipient of a Boy Scouts of America Service Award, he has served as scoutmaster

for Troop 641 since 1998. C.J. Turner ’16, Warren Turner ’19, and Matthew Rhodes ’19 are among the Eagle Scouts from his troop.

Greer Heads PRSA Memphis

Assistant Director of Communications and Inside MUS Managing Editor Rebecca Greer was elected in November to serve as 2019 president of the Memphis chapter of

Johansons Depart for Dubai; Johnson Joins College Counseling

Associate Director of College Counseling Steven Johanson and Lower School Math Instructor Meredith Johanson set off this summer to realize their goal of living and working overseas by joining the faculty of Dubai American Academy in the United Arab Emirates.

Upon Steven Johanson’s departure, Curtis Johnson joined the team as assistant director of College Counseling. With over five years of experience in college admissions, Johnson previously served as senior assistant director of admission at University of the South in Sewanee, TN. After graduating from Holy Spirit Preparatory School in

the Public Relations Society of America.

Hollinger Completes Citizen’s Academy

Director of Facilities Willie Hollinger was among a class of more than 100 individuals who graduated from the

Memphis Police Department’s Citizen’s Police Academy in December. Meeting once a week for nine weeks, Hollinger and other participants gained a better understanding of police operations through class instruction and riding along with officers, and they formed partnerships to combat crime and increase prevention awareness. Upon completion of the CPA, graduates serve as liaisons between the department and the community to report suspicious and criminal activity. Hollinger,

pictured with Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings.

Atlanta, he earned a bachelor’s degree in art at Sewanee, where he also had a distinguished gridiron career, serving as starting quarterback for three years. His experience in admissions includes promoting partnerships with communitybased organizations with an emphasis on

diversity, equity, and inclusion training and recruitment. Johnson is pictured above, second from right, with the College Counseling team, from left, Administrative Assistant Kim Justis Eikner, Director Zach Hansen, and Associate Director Stacy Elliott.

left, is

1915

Richard Halliburton is depicted as a U.S. spy between the first and second World Wars in a series of historical fiction books by author Garrett Drake, who recently released the first in the series, The Secret of the King’s Tomb

’58

Last fall Les Nicholson played in the Presidents’ Cup, a biannual competition between the international tennis clubs of France and the United States, hosted by the French in the village of Cabourg. The U.S. team, which included men and women ranging in age from the mid-20s to 75 and over, won 2117. He also participated in the Amigos Cup for the Houston Rocket Club, part of a similar U.S. international team, to play against the International Tennis Club of Mexico. The U.S. team won 26-25.

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Memphis Care, founded by William Gotten, is in its fifth year of giving food to foodchallenged families.

Kingsley Hooker has composed an impressive manifesto, with one paragraph beginning, “Dum spiro spero” or “While I breathe, I hope.” He explains, “It is the South Carolina motto.”

The Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County published its first book celebrating the late Archie McLaren, titled The Journey from Memphis Blues to the Central Coast Wine Revolution. It is written in Archie’s voice as told to the Wine History Project.

George Owen recalls a trip to California to attend McLaren’s wine auction and a dinner he hosted at Hearst Castle. George and Kay have seven cats, a record for our class.

Pete Pace has three of eight grandchildren in Charlevoix,

MI. Three start college next year at Michigan State, Rhode Island School of Design, and Colorado. Pete and Witt have wintered the last few years at a complex near Naples, FL.

Phillip Patterson’s son Joey, one of six children, owns the house on Midland where Phillip

grew up. Phillip also has eight grandchildren. He is seeing optometry patients two days a week, teaching kids at Webb School to shoot sporting clays, and keeping up his piano and piloting skills. He recalls every teacher and classmate from kindergarten through high school.

The man responsible for much of the architectural look of the campus, Met Crump ’60, spoke in chapel in February about his life and work. After chapel Crump – a drummer and music aficionado –visited Director of Music Matt Tutor ’91, left, and Music Instructor Chris Carter, right, in Bloodworth Studio.

C.D. Smith played golf this spring four or five times a week to get ready for an interclub golf tournament, breaking 90 several times after focusing mainly on tennis in years past. Sandra and Ned Smith continue to enjoy sailing and taking out their 1960 Chris Craft boat on Pickwick Lake.

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Scott May reports: We are all reaching retirement age; whether to bite the bullet and quit work is the question: Will I have enough to do without a job, and does my health allow me to enjoy retirement? Many of us enjoy hunting and fishing and have good property in the area, so what’s the problem? Mother Nature has dealt us a bad hand, that’s what!

1. Let’s start with fishing on the Mississippi, the Tennessee, and their tributaries. Years ago the U.S. government allowed the importation of Asian carp into the South to control vegetation in catfish ponds. The Mighty Mississippi went on a tear in the mid-’90s; ponds near Vicksburg flooded and the Asian carp got out. Prolific breeders, they’ve ruined the fisheries on all the Mid-South rivers and connected oxbow lakes; plus, they’ve made the waterways dangerous as they jump into boats and knock jet skiers off their vehicles.

2. Dove hunting is not nearly as good as it used to be; just ask the people who spend thousands to prepare fields and only have marginal hunts for

their guests. 3. Regardless of what DU, Delta, and state and federal game and fish people tell us, the duck population is shrinking annually. Last season (2018-19) was the worst any of us can remember in the last 20-30 years. Blame it on poor nesting areas and “shortstopping” north of the MidSouth. 4. Surely the whitetail deer will save the day? Wrong! Mississippi, Arkansas, and West Tennessee now have deer infected with chronic wasting disease. The largest outbreak is in Hardeman and Fayette County with 10-15 percent of the population infected, and the experts say you should not eat the meat. 5. Turkeys will surely save the day! Wrong again. The mighty Mississippi has been at or near flood stage since early March, and most of our large turkey hunting properties are not useable. Plus, the population appears to be down in the areas away from the Big River. And who likes to hunt in the rain when you are 76? Conclusion: Henry Morgan, John Bell, Hammond Cole, and I, as well as other classmates, have had success with the gobs this spring, but not what we are used to. Time to rethink that vacation home in Florida; we are too old to go out West to ski.

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Jerry Bradfield reports: What they say about weddings and funerals is true: It brings people together that you normally wouldn’t see. Such was the memorial service for Barney

Witherington on April 6. There was a huge turnout in Mason, TN, at the Ebenezer Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Witherington Road, including a great representation from our class: Dan Work, Sam Gary, Pete Shearon, Dan Copp, and of course, Cole Wilder and Newt Metcalf, his loyal friends who had checked on him several times. The last time I saw Barney was at the Homecoming luncheon for our 50th reunion. It was great seeing him again and getting to know his charming and witty wife, Ann! The service was typical of a small town gathering where everyone seemed to know each other, and the tone was upbeat according to Barney’s wishes. His two sons and sonin-law delivered eloquent and yet down-to-earth messages about his life – full of hunting and fishing stories. Kathy and I had eaten an earlier lunch at Bozo’s, a barbecue institution there, where one of the staff was a cousin and one of the patrons had been in Barney’s biology class at the local school where he taught before medical school. Barney’s family ties are deep and wide. My memories of Barney were playdates in elementary school and a somewhat futile dovehunting expedition where only sparrows were encountered with broadly aimed shotgun blasts! Jim Garner expressed sorrow at Barney’s passing – “a guy we have fond memories of. It’s such a loss when we lose one of our own.” Nat Ellis, our unofficial class historian, noted three memories: His

“Bull of the Woods” column in The Owl’s Hoot; his being a starting lineman on the football team; and his being voted Most Popular in our senior class.

Dan Copp said, “My memories of Barney are spending the night at his house, playing board games, hearing him tell of a frightening experience as a student pilot when his light plane began to run out of gas (he had forgotten to check the fuel tank caps and gas was flowing out), and going out to visit his then girlfriend, now his wife, in Brighton, TN. I visited him at his one-man clinic in the Buster’s shopping center (Poplar and Highland) and remember he mentioned that John Martin’s parents

(See ironic photo from The Owl, 1962, above.)

Dallas Alumni Party

Dallas-area

alumni shared stories at a party in January at the home of Lexi and Scott McArtor ’88. The get-together was hosted by the McArtors, Sam Sawyer ’05, and Copley Broer ‘96.

1 Headmaster Pete Sanders and Donald McClure ’06 2 Admissions Assistant Glenn Rogers, Zack Rutland ’06, Jordan Brown ’09, and Kevin Simms ’11 3 Stephen Shannon ’96 and Jeff Novel ’94 4 Jeff Fuller ’81, Ron Banks ’77, Jimmy Garner ’62, Chris Joe ’87 5 George Utkov ’10, Jack Shawkey ’12, and Edward Good ’12 6 Brothers Caperton White ’98 and Richard White ’05

were his patients. I recall talking to his father at Barney’s house in Central Gardens; he seemed to be a very wise man and was one of the leading internal medicine docs in Memphis.” Dan Work wrote: “Two memorable moments come to mind. In a Cub Scout performance, Barney and I dressed as train engineers and pulled a red wagon decorated to look like a red caboose on stage. Before a throng of parents, friends, brothers, and sisters, Barney and I sang Little Red Caboose Behind the Train. We never performed another duet. The summer of 1959 Barney invited me to fish at a pond somewhere up Highway 51. After one hour of Barney catching fish on every other cast and me with zero, he told me the proper lure to use. On the second cast I caught a largemouth bass. That bass caught 60 years ago is still the largest bass I ever caught.” All agree, he was just an overall nice friend to have.

Philip Crump and his wife aren’t slowing down in either work or travel adventures. “Beverley and I recently spent three weeks driving in central Spain, loving the walled towns, stunning early spring landscape, and tasty cuisine and trying to absorb the long history of a land ruled by Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, and others. The historic ethnic and cultural fragmentation shows up in surprising places: Even the ATMs ask whether the preferred language is Castilian, Valencian, Catalan, Galician, or Euskara (Basque)! We are hoping Dan Copp and his new

bride, Donna, are able to repeat their stay in Santa Fe; we really enjoyed the extended Copp crew last summer.”

Jerry adds: I trust you all noted that Dan took the plunge with a very dear friend of ours, Donna Plummer, from days with the St. Mary’s girls years ago in high school. Best wishes to them!

Fred Smith was presented the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Business Leadership Award for his contributions to strengthening the transatlantic relationship at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in April.

’66

Glad to report that Johnny Adams is completely healed following his crash on the slopes at Telluride this past winter. He continues to believe himself to be an Olympic gold medalist in the downhill, but gosh! Slow down, Big John!

Frank Jemison, ALCO Management CEO, was highlighted in The Daily Memphian in December for the investment his company has made in the Frayser community.

John Romeiser joins our newest ranks as retired from UT-Knoxville’s Department of “Romantic Languages.” We’ve all seen dramatic examples of romantic language, but probably not like John teaches. Congrats, ole buddy; come visit us soon for an MUS tour. You would be proud of our school.

Members of the Class of 1969 gathered for a 50th reunion planning meeting at Interim in December. We look forward to celebrating this class at Homecoming Sept. 27-28. Front row, from left: Davis Moser, Ike Seelbinder, Joel Bailey, John Keesee, Barney Gordan, Parks Dixon, David Dow; back row, Mark Frederick, Rick Humphreys, Paul McClure, Holmes Pettey, Webster McDonald, Dick Cowan, Ray Gill, Trip Farnsworth, and Phillip Crawford

’70

Steve Bledsoe ’70 received his University of Virginia reunion email and spied two Owls: Buddy Best ’71, left, and Mac McKee ’65, right.

Longtime Shelby County historian and former Peabody Hotel Duckmaster Jimmy Ogle recently retired and moved to Knoxville to be closer to grandchildren. But he’s been back and forth to Memphis. He shared his historical knowledge and helped commemorate the Memphis Bicentennial as part of a free speaker series

this spring, and he reports: “I’ll be in Memphis this summer for dedications of historical markers that I had begun and for filming of my Downtown walking tours by the Downtown Memphis Commission for their archives – free access for everyone forever!  Twelve of my lectures of various Memphis topics that the Pink Palace sponsored this spring are online now. Google Jimmy Ogle Pink Palace to access.

“On another note, when I was in Memphis recently, I visited the school’s Great Players Wall and an angel appeared –

BIRTHS

Forsyth and Jim Whittington ’90, a daughter, Townes Kenworthy, born September 26, 2018

Caroline and John Palmer ’93, twins, a daughter, Adeline Aubrey, and a son, John Sogn, born September 5, 2018

Heather and Chris Alexander ’94, a son, Henry Houston II, born August 8, 2018

Haley and Brian Edmonds ’94, a son, Robert Biggs, born February 11, 2019

Amy and Emmel Golden ’97, a daughter, Celeta Katherine, born April 27, 2019

Holly and Conley Patton ’99, a daughter, Kaia Rose, born August 20, 2018

Mari and Constantine Economides ’00, a daughter, Aya Nichole, born May 11, 2018

Brooke and Chris Hamilton ’00, a son, William Christopher, born February 20, 2019

Cheryl and Omar Malik ’00, a daughter, Charlotte, born August 26, 2018

Mary and Jim Hopkins ’01, a son, James Richard, Jr. born June 25, 2018

Catherine and Brandon O’Mell ’01, a daughter, Catherine “Kate” Wallace, born December 22, 2018

Anne and Gene Bledsoe ’02, a daughter, Cynthia Haywood, born May 10, 2019

Palmer and Robert Gardner ’02, a son, Robert Goodwyn IV, born August 10, 2018

Sara and Will Saxon ’02, twin daughters, Dailey Abigail and Rhodes Elizabeth, born May 23, 2018

Ruth and Andy Garrett ’03, a daughter, June Katherine, born December 6, 2018

Elizabeth and Donnie Malmo ’06, a daughter, Emma Veazey, born January 23, 2019

Michelle and Donald McClure ’06, a daughter, Blakesley Virginia, born September 17, 2018

Joy and Paul Morrow ’06, a daughter, Reeves Eliza, born May 1, 2019

Anna and Dex Witte ’06, a daughter, Rivers Elizabeth, born April 25, 2019

Gray and Brandon Byrd ’07, a son, Daniel Howard II, born October 4, 2018

Devon and John Reinhardt ’07, a daughter, Sophie Leigh, born July 18, 2018

Ruth Peters. We had a really nice talk. I am most honored to be recognized by MUS.”

In December Henry Wetter and his wife, Kelly, had a cocktail buffet for Sam Pepper ’68. Sam was visiting from his home in Anchorage, AK. Many of his 1967 football Owl teammates and friends were in attendance, and most had not seen Sam since 1968. Attendees included, from the Class of 1968, Tommy Adams, Henry Cannon, Wis Laughlin, and Cary Whitehead; from the Class of 1969, John Cady, John Keesee, Webster McDonald, John Remmers, and Bill Smith; and from the Class of 1970, Steve Bledsoe, Ralph Braden, Charles Cannon, Hunter Humphreys, Kelly McGuire, Lawrence McRae, Mike Murphy, Henry Sullivant, and Bob Wilson Besides Sam’s 4,000-mile trip from Alaska, the distance winners were John Cady from Dallas and Bill from Nashville. A great time was had by all.

’71

Tom Bryan and his wife, Stephanie, are still living in Salina, KS, where he is the president of Great Plains International, the largest independent agriculture implement manufacturer in the U.S. He travels to his offices in Krasnodar, Russia; Kiev, Ukraine; and Dobrich, Bulgaria, and to distributors in every corner of the globe,

helping farmers improve their performance using American farming technologies. He has had meetings with leaders in many countries where GPI sells equipment. The house is quiet with most everyone having migrated back to the “good old South” so Tom and Stephanie spend time visiting his children and one granddaughter (currently): John (and wife in Warrensburg, PA); Andrew (musical director in NYC and traveling Broadway shows); Betsy and family (Warren, AR); Molly (doctor of physical therapy in Tupelo, MS); Sander (in Dallas oil and mineral acquisitions); and Chandler (last year of grad school at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR). “God has blessed us immeasurably over the years with our greatest treasure, our family. I’m still working because I enjoy it, but we always find time to visit our favorite warm spots, Jamaica and Captiva Island, FL.”

Philip Gould is vice chair of the Orpheum Theatre Group. He and brother, David Gould ’78, brought Gould’s spa services to the Big Cypress Lodge in the Pyramid in March.

Jess Wesberry announces the birth of a beautiful new granddaughter. He is enjoying working with ophthalmology residents as an assistant professor at UT’s medical school.

The newly established Class of ’81 Brain Trust had its first meeting this spring at the University Club; Kelly Truitt happened to be celebrating his 56th birthday. From left, Billy Orgel, Truitt, Rob

’72

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges elected Judge Dan Michael, juvenile court judge of Memphis and Shelby County, as treasurer of its board of directors.

’73

John Bryce is excited to involve his daughter, Ashley, and son, Durham Bryce ’12, in the leadership of their family business, ADLAM Films. As a proud grandfather to Ashley’s active son and two daughters, it’s too soon to be enjoying retirement. He seems to be getting under Debbie’s feet in managing the farm in Hardeman County, so he’ll keep out of the way, er uh, a steady hand on the wheel, at ADLAM.

Maggie and Larry Hayward welcomed the birth of their first grandchild, Stevie Bean Snyder, in March. Congrats to the new grandparents!

“Delta” Joe Sanders just completed his new CD on Madjack records, produced by Dawn Hopkins and Reba Russell. Hopefully, it will be out by fall. He will have a release party and hopes many of us can make it. Joe is playing at Alex’s Tavern on the last Sunday afternoon of every month from 3-6 p.m. and would love to see his old mates there. ’74

Inside Memphis Business magazine recognized Nathan Bicks as 2019 CEO of the Year for a company with 50-200 employees. Nathan is managing partner at Burch, Porter & Johnson.

Congratulations to Morris “MoJo” Jones on his recent retirement from Dreamworks! He fills some of his spare time with contract bridge tournaments and astronomy.

’75

Stilly McFadden, president of Toof American Digital Printing and Jay Martin ’06 of Champion Awards and Apparel have bought controlling interest in Champion Awards and renamed the company Champion Promotion. With this transition comes the naming of Lee Marshall as president of Champion Promotion.

’77

Upper School Assistant Principal Mark Counce was celebrated in May for achieving 25 years of service at MUS (1983-1993 and 2004 until today). See story page 36.

’78

Cris Creson conducts brain research at The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, FL.

Chris Schmeisser lives in Nashville where he is senior leasing director for HCP.

Former food service executive Bill Townsend has launched American Land & Cattle Co., hoping to turn thousands of rural Mid-South acres into pasture for cattle feeding on natural grass.

’81

Billy Orgel, this month’s cover subject (see story page 5) and one of the developers of the Tennessee Brewery project, recently celebrated winning the Memphis Business Journal’s Building Memphis Awards Project of the Year.

Kevin Russell recently completed his doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Mississippi. He will serve as vice president for enrollment and marketing for Belhaven University in Jackson, MS.

Robert Shy is back in Memphis and married to Natalie Bell. Daughter Charlotte will have her physician’s assistant white coat ceremony in July, and daughter Genevieve is in Bend, OR, working and coaching high school lacrosse.

Boyd Wade shot a huge Merriam’s turkey in Montana in the spring.

Hussey, Boyd Wade, and Norris McGehee

’82

Lt. Colonel Michael Howard is headed to Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, for a one-year remote assignment as the Wing Chaplain for the 8th Fighter Wing. This follows a threeyear assignment as the Wing Chaplain for the 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. During this year in Korea, his wife, Shannon, will remain in Germany; they appreciate and welcome your prayers.

’83

Mac McCarroll was appointed by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to serve as the Germantown City Attorney as of January 1, 2019.

Headmaster Pete Sanders recently visited with Scott

’84

Michael Peeler is now senior vice president at Trustmark Bank.

’85

Don Lake was promoted to senior vice president of enterprise development for Dunavant Global Logistics Group.

’86

Snyder at his office in Washington, DC. Snyder is the senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book is South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers. Sanders was in the nation’s capital for an executive forum with educational research firm EAB, headed by CEO David Felsenthal ’88

Stewart Austin, an attorney with Glankler Brown, was nominated to the Memphis Business Journal’s Best of the Bar in the large private firm division.

William Barksdale was elected as a director of the National Cotton Council and as a director of Cotton Council International.

’87

Jonny Ballinger is now the director of global digital marketing operations at Smith & Nephew.

Jeff Blumberg returned to Memphis for an industry conference in the spring, came by campus for a tour (yes, our class composite is still on the walls), and dropped by Lafayette’s to see Johnny Norris and WALRUS, reliving the music of high school. Also making an appearance that

evening (at least those he recognized other than Dan Shumake ’89, who is also in the band) were Jim Boals, Jim Cherry, and Jon Neal, as well as a couple of older guys, Ted Miller ’86 and John Monaghan ’85. As for life in Chicago, he and his wife are officially empty nesters, at least until fall when his daughter graduates from Miami of Ohio and returns to Chicago to teach. His son has completed his freshman year at UC-San Diego.

Jeff also reports: “We are all aware of the challenges Kent McKelvey has been facing over the past year. Keep the thoughts, the prayers, the calls, the texts, and the cards coming. Beating something like this is just as much about the love and his mental state as it is about the medicine.” Kent, pictured above with Allen Graber, left, and Kepler Knott, right, in May, says this: “I’m very grateful for you and all old friends. I’m 10 months out from AML, bone marrow transplant, and multiple other things. The story is one in a billion, and I’m still here (someone has to be, I guess).”

Geoff Butler continues his work with the Poudre Fire Authority in Fort Collins, CO. Outside of work, he and wife, Jane, spend time watching their son, Pete, grow his musical

The Metcalf Symposium, an annual lecture series founded by William Halliday ’82 and Instructor in Religion Clay Smythe ’85, brought Houston Baptist University professor Dr. Louis Markos to campus this spring. From left are Instructor in History Jonathan Large, Halliday, Markos, Smythe, and Instructor in English Spencer Reese ’94

talents in punk rock and daughter, Madeleine, play as her lacrosse team’s goalie.

Chris Joe reports that the alumni contingent is stronger than ever in Dallas. In addition to enjoying a recent alumni get-together at the home of Lexi and Scott McArtor ’88, he discovered that another alum, Bradford Beck ’73, lives nearby. He encourages classmates traveling through Dallas to reach out.

Johnny Norris is the new general counsel for Youth Villages. In his free time, not only is Johnny still playing bass guitar in WALRUS, but he and his wife, Kimberly, have formed a new “yacht rock” band called

The Love Boat. He proudly reports that their oldest son, Spencer, will enter ninth grade at MUS this fall.

’88

Geoffrey Hirsch, an attorney with Butler Snow, was nominated to the Memphis Business Journal ’s Best of the Bar in the extra-large private firm division.

Will Jones, senior pastor at Germantown Presbyterian Church, came to Hyde Chapel and delivered a fine Ash Wednesday homily that underscored the importance of making wise choices. He also got to say hi to classmate and

MUS History Instructor Jason Peters.

Jay Keegan’s Adams Keegan company expanded into Texas.

Jason Peters enjoyed this NBA Championship Series more than most, as he got to watch a kid from his Lausanne Collegiate School coaching days – former Memphis Grizzlies player Marc Gasol –earn a ring for his new team, the Toronto Raptors. Read the

New York Times article here: bit.ly/Peters-Gasol.

’89

Jim Gilliland is now a principal at Diversified Trust.

’90

The Memphis Business Journal recognized Patrick Burnett as winner of the in-house counsel division in the Best of the Bar awards. Patrick is general counsel for Duncan-Williams.

’84

Time magazine editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal discusses the magazine’s 2019 list of the 100 most influential people in the world on CBS This Morning: bit.ly/FelsenthalCBS.

Donnell Cobbins is working as an open order manager for Dufresne Spencer Group.

Richard Vining opened the Edge Motor Museum, a new automobile museum focused on preserving classic vehicles in their original state.

’91

Jeremy Alpert, a partner at Glankler Brown, was named a fellow of the Memphis Bar Foundation.

’93

Joel Baskin was married in France this spring to a French citizen named France. France Baskin has a nice ring to it.

After 14 years at Presbyterian Day School, Braxton Brady accepted the upper school head position at Evangelical Christian School and became head of school as of January 1, 2019.

Represented by Darrell Cobbins, the Memphis Music Initiative found a new home in a former firehouse

in Downtown Memphis. The property was rescued several years ago by Billy Orgel ’81 who hoped to give new life and purpose to the space.

Grinder Taber Grinder, led by Brett Grinder and his brother, Justin ’97, was awarded the FedEx Logistics Headquarters project to convert the Gibson Guitar Factory building into urban office space for Richard Smith’s division of FedEx. Brett’s daughter, Anne, graduated from Hutchison this spring and is attending Princeton

University this fall. His son, Edward, will be a sophomore at MUS.

’92

Oliver Luckett and Scott Guinn ’07 have amassed an impressive modern art collection at their home in Iceland. This article in My Modern Met also mentions the annual Luckett-Guinn Artist-in-Residence program they’ve funded at MUS: bit.ly/ Luckett-GuinnArt.

Eric Dalle, center, led 26 juniors and seniors through Germany and France this summer on the MUS in Europe trip to study the origins of cinema. “Here we are in Lyon at the exact site where the Lumière brothers shot the very first moving film of workers leaving their factory.”

Matt Wilson’s Swankys Taco Shop became the new groundfloor restaurant at Chisca on Main this spring.

’93

Brian Bolton reports that after 17 years in the practice of criminal law, as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney, he is considering the next phase of his career. “I’m thinking about looking for something more personally fulfilling. I saw that PetSmart is looking for cashiers, so that’s a strong possibility.” Classmates and fellow attorneys Gil Uhlhorn and Thomas Quinlen replied, “Seriously?! Will you send us the application link?”

Sandy Hooper has temporarily moved to Houston to work in Lightfoot, Franklin, and White’s office there.

Thomas Quinlen and Gil Uhlhorn have enjoyed cheering on their sons, William ’19 and Garner ’22, who competed on the school trap team.

’94

Chris Alexander shares that after the birth of their fourth, Henry, he and his wife are out of the newborn business. “It’s a young man’s game.”

Chris Allen and his family will move to St. Petersburg, FL, this summer.

In May, some of Coach “Wild Bill” Taylor’s former students and tennis players were able to reunite and put their skills to the test against the current members of the Owls varsity tennis team. It was a perfect day to play – sunny with a few clouds and temperatures in the mid-70s. The alumni are happy to report that there were no injuries and having long mastered the technique of the “rope-adope,” they were able to sweep the doubles at all three spots. The varsity team responded well to win most of the singles match-ups. A great time was had by all, and we look forward to next year’s competition. All former tennis lettermen are invited to contact Coach Bill Taylor at bill.taylor@musowls.org, Keith Tonkin at kthetonk@ yahoo.com, or me at benjamincousinsmd@gmail.com so we can add you to the roster for future events. It was great fun; I hope we can get together annually.

Richard Bloom ruptured his Achilles doing a roundoff back handspring. After a successful New Year’s surgery, he is now limping around New Mexico where he is production designing the first season of Briarpatch, a Universal Cable Productions TV show staring Rosario Dawson. Look for it this fall.

Haley and Brian Edmonds welcomed their fourth (and final) child in February. Their son, Davis, begins seventh grade at MUS this fall.

In January Willie Mays, right, and his band, The Barbershop Boys, performed at the historic Grand Ole Opry for a Saturday night show. The ensemble’s instruments included a banjo uke, guitar, upright bass, and fiddle. After the show, Mays was quoted as saying, “Now Garth

Brooks can say he sang on the same stage as Willie Mays. His mom must be so proud.”

Chris Ramezanpour started Secure Food Solutions in Memphis, developing food safety diagnostics for the rapid detection of toxins, bacteria, and other dangerous pathogens that threaten the global food supply.

Cole Whitaker is vice president for DEKA Products at Cartessa Aesthetics.

’95

Chip Brown has brought luxury pet care to Oxford, MS, with his new business, Delta Dog.

Albert Tat was named director of national accounts for the Gander Group.

’96

Tom Burnett relocated to Philadelphia in 2017 to serve as assistant director of public engagement at the John Templeton Foundation. He says his adjustment to the position has not been nearly as challenging as keeping up with his toddler son, Felix.

Wilson Moore has been promoted to managing director, investments at Raymond James.

Cory Prewitt has been promoted to president of Laurelwood Shopping Center.

The Rev. Dr. Bill Murray is rector of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church in Atlanta, GA.

Pictured here with Head Tennis Coach Bill Taylor, left, and Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center director Phil Chamberlain, right, are former Owl tennis players, from left, Greg Sossaman ’02, Ben Cousins ’95, Keith Tonkin ’93, Paul Hagerman ’92, Will Carruthers ’10, Jake Lawhead ’95, and Mason Cousins ’99. Ben reports:

Remembering Notre Dame

By Brett Meeks ’02

As the images of Notre Dame burning were circulating around screens in our office and in people’s hands, I shared the sadness that so many felt for that beautiful icon of humanity that means so much to so many. But I also had a different feeling – one of pure joy and thankfulness, an overwhelming gratitude for the gifts that I’ve been given in life and the opportunities that have come my way because of my time at MUS.

About 17 years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to France with Beg To Differ under the leadership of John Hiltonsmith and the graciousness of Dr. Reginald Dalle and his brother Bruno. Many MUS alumni who have experienced the MUS in Europe trips know how lasting and wonderful those memories are and how fortunate we are to have been given such opportunity. This trip was particularly special because Dr. Dalle and Mr. Hiltonsmith had arranged for us to sing at two cathedrals while we were there: Notre Dame de Reims and Notre Dame de Paris.

I will never forget that experience. My fellow Beg To Differ members and I shuffled into Notre Dame de Paris and were escorted toward the front near the altar. Mr. Hiltonsmith looked at us and motioned us to start, and we sang Ave Maria underneath all the glory that surrounded us. I can still feel the hairs on my arms standing on end in that moment.

Had I not been an MUS Owl, I would never have had that experience. Had I not had the pleasure of studying and learning under Mr. Hiltonsmith, I never would have been singing that song in that moment with those people. Had I not had the opportunity to study under Dr. Dalle and benefit from all the blessings he’s passed on to so many students over the years, I never would have been in that cathedral.

So I am thankful for this wonderful memory. I am thankful for Mr. Hiltonsmith and Dr. Dalle. I am grateful for the many opportunities and gifts in my life. And I recognize how fortunate I am to have gone to MUS.

Brett Meeks is vice president, policy and legal, at Center for Medical Interoperability in Nashville.

Washington and Lee University

alumnus Brian Ricketts was featured in W&L magazine’s spring issue. He is a track and cross country coach at Alamo Heights High School, and the story highlighted his work with the Team Red, White, and Blue National Trail Running Camp in San Antonio, which is available to veterans and Gold Star spouses.

McLean Wilson and Henry Turley ’59 joined forces in redeveloping historic Central Station. After almost two years of work converting the 105-year-old building from apartments, the doors to the Central Station Hotel lobby should open in September. bit.ly/NewCentralStation ’97

Dave Hwang is an associate professor in the Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT.

’98

for Shazam!, based on the DC Comics superhero, which hit theaters in April. This photo is of him with some of the cast.

Robbie Shappley accepted a promotion within the Tenet Healthcare system to COO of two hospitals in the Phoenix area (Abrazo Central and Abrazo Scottsdale). He began work in April; his family joined him this summer.

’99

Ben Bailey is now a senior sales representative in the U.S. Navy division at Amazon Web Services.

Ross Glotzbach was named CEO of Southeastern Asset Management. ’00

Evan Linder talks about the history and culture behind his play “Byhalia, Mississippi” in this Kennedy Center mini-documentary: bit.ly/LinderonByhalia. The play was staged at the Kennedy Center in June.

Collins Rainey is now a fellow in the American Academy of Family Physicians and has been promoted to director of medical student education for Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation.

Henry Gayden, above left, made his big break as a screenwriter with the 2014 sci-fi adventure Earth to Echo; after that, he wrote the screenplay

Whit Tenent is still teaching at MUS and is coaching lacrosse at Rhodes College.

’01Jim Hopkins and his family recently relocated within the Pidgeon Estates neighborhood in Memphis. He moved a little farther away from his past neighbors, Michael McLaren, Tread Thompson, and Trevor Knight ’02, and moved a little closer to Derek Clenin ’03, Will Covington ’02, and Paul Gillespie. Reports from the Pidgeon Estates’ Neighborhood Association also confirm Jimmy Jam was a recent recipient of the Yard of the Month!

Austin Hulbert is an associate with McKinsey & Company in New York City.

Harvey Kay will be working on business development for Southern Growth Studio, a growth strategy consulting firm that helps companies differentiate themselves from the competition.

Michael McLaren left Butler Snow and joined the litigation team at FedEx Express where he works with a number of MUS alums. His son, Mack, just finished kindergarten at PDS and daughter, Eleanor, is wrapping up her first year at St Mary’s. Michael continues to play basketball but was unable to get off the bench last year as his fellow classmates brought home the 2018 ABL Championship. He’s hoping his game improved enough over the fall and spring to let him play a role on this year’s team.

’02

Brice Bailey opened a new location of his popular Staks Pancake Kitchen restaurant in Germantown in December.

Cody Jameson is now international convention development manager at Destination DC, an organization focused on managing and marketing Washington, DC, as a premier global convention, tourism, and special events destination.

Will Saxton lives in New York City where he’s an investment banker with Credit Suisse.

’03

Philip Blackett has been named business manager at Cemetery Services. He and his wife, Mayra, live with their twin daughters in the greater Boston area.

Sean Gould has been promoted to senior wealth strategist at Waddell and Associates.

Jesse Huseth has opened a new Memphis business, JH Snacks.

David Jacobson has been promoted to vice president, sales training and development, at Fisher Investments Europe.

Hite McLean has joined Glankler Brown as an associate attorney.

Alumni who work at Financial Federal helped welcome Robert Ayotte ’20 during a career shadow assignment for his Economics class in April. Pictured from left, John Summers ’05, Kent Wunderlich ’66, Jon Van Hoozer ’88, Ayotte, Gideon Scoggin ’95, Eric Beaty ’01, and William Tayloe ’92; not pictured, Battle Williford ’01

’04

Brandon Arrindell purchased a minority stake in the Memphis Grizzlies.

Gatlin Hardin finished a two-year admiral’s aide tour at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command last November and then started refresher training to fly again for the next three years for his department head tour.

’05

Josh Hall is a senior consultant with Deloitte in Austin, TX.

Harry Mayfield is an associate with the Brunswick Group in New York City.

Wilson McManus is in the Navy Reserve in a full-time role flying 737s (called the C-40A

Clipper). “I fly worldwide now and live in Coronado, CA, with my wife, Dabney, and daughter, Virginia (pictured below). I’m looking forward to transitioning to a more part-time Navy Reserve role in 2021 and applying to FedEx to hopefully do more flying out of Memphis.”

Sam Sawyer recently relocated to San Francisco, CA, to join a real estate technology company called ZeroDown as their director of real estate operations.

MARRIAGES

Bo Hyde ’92 to Alex Winston on June 15, 2019

Buck Lawson ’03 to Lindsay Pate on September 15, 2018

Winfield Clifford ’04 to Amanda Sims on December 8, 2018

Will Aldridge ’07 to Lee Bobo on December 31, 2018

Jay Edwards ’07 to Caitlin Shelton on March 23, 2019

Michael Park ’07 to Charlotte White on November 11, 2017

David Ruben ’09 to Mallory McGolrick on May 26, 2018

Robert Threlkeld ’09 to Devin Loftus on October 06, 2018

Edward Cates ’10 to Avery Jordan on May 11, 2019

Derrick Baber ’13 to Natalie Johnson on May 25, 2019

Jon Michael Taylor has been promoted to manager, vendor operations for Tractor Supply Company.

’06

Charlie Erb joined Strategic Financial Services as a financial services representative.

Hugh Francis joined Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell as an associate attorney.

John Klinke has taken a position as market analyst for Stream Realty Partners in Washington, DC.

Walter Klyce graduated from medical school at Brown University in May. He and wife, Katie, are now in Cleveland, where he will begin a fiveyear residency in orthopaedic surgery at Case Western.

Jay Martin of Champion Awards and Apparel and Stilly McFadden ’75, president of Toof American Digital Printing have bought controlling interest in Champion Awards and renamed the company Champion Promotion. Lee Marshall ’75 was named president of Champion Promotion.

Russell Nenon is a vice president, regional corporate banker with Branch Bank and Trust.

Nick Skefos is finishing up his medical residency training in general psychiatry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and will begin a

two-year fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Peter Zanca has taken a new position as basketball analytics intern at Pacers Sports and Entertainment. To help pivot into sports, he has enrolled in a dual-degree two-year program at Notre Dame where he’s pursuing an MBA and MS in business analytics. For the Indiana Pacers, he will work on NBA draft prep, free agency prep, and analytical studies.

’07

Preston

Litigator Group.

William

Luke Jensen and Patton Orr ’16 were responsible for creating TEDxMemphis in 2015; Jensen, James Smythe’20, Clay Smythe ’85 (pictured above) and current students continued the tradition by helping organize and work this year’s event in February at Crosstown Concourse.

Battle IV joined Baker Donelson’s Memphis New

Harris is now a category management expert (sourcing advisor) at FedEx.

Alumni from the Class of 2007 gathered in Vicksburg, MS, to celebrate the wedding of Jay Edwards: sitting from left, Harrison Hunt and his wife, Stewart; Charlotte and Michael Park; standing, Buck Towner and his wife, Katherine; Lauren and Stephen Bowie; Tara Hallie and William Ware; and Lizzy Crawford and Ben Stallworth

Chase Moore is now working as an account manager at Indigo AG.

Air Force Capt. John Reinhardt was named 2018 Company Grade Officer of the Year for Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Office of the Inspector General. He and his wife, Devon, and their baby daughter, Sophie, are stationed at Scott Air Force Base, IL, just east of St. Louis.

The leadership team at Big River Distillery wants to put Memphis back on the map in the whiskey industry. McCauley Williams, a former attorney with Baker Donelson law firm, is the owner of Big River; Alexander Folk, cofounder of Pyramid Vodka, is the COO.

’09

Will Stokes is head of strategy and development for Strive Health in Denver, CO.

Kimbrough Taylor is now manager of digital content and SEO at ServiceMaster.

’10

Kyle Anthony lives in Atlanta where he was recently promoted to marketing manager for North America at Tellermate.

of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Holt Edwards has taken a job as special assistant in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ted Fockler was nominated for the Inspiring Teacher Award in the annual Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards.

Lt. Andrew Gardella USN, is currently deployed overseas with the Naval Special Warfare Command Joint Response Force and looks forward to returning to the U.S. in 2020.

Erim Sarinoglu was named to the Shelby County Mayor’s Young Professionals Council in March. ’08

Christopher Bloodworth lives in Birmingham and has published a children’s book titled, A Girl and her Bear

Scott Edwards has taken a position as senior counsel for business development, integration, and innovation at Southern Company.

Owen Mercer, an associate with Cushman & Wakefield/ Commercial Advisors, was named Newcomer of the Year at the annual Pinnacle Awards presented by the Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council.

Cameron Crawford earned his MPS in clinical psychological science and is the laboratory manager for the University of Maryland’s Learning and Cognition Laboratory in the College of Education.

Brian Davidoff is enrolled in a two-year, full-time MBA program at the University

Early this year the Memphis Business Journal featured photos from the restored Nabisco warehouse at 11 W. Huling Ave., now the home of DCA communications firm, founded by Doug Carpenter ’82. The architect for the project was Austin Magruder.

Lots of Owls served as groomsmen in the wedding of Miles DeBardeleben ’07 in Ocean Springs, MS, in December. Front row, from left, Haynes Vaughn ’07, Wyatt Harris ’07, Philip Debardeleben ’06, Miles DeBardeleben, Rick DeBardeleben, Alex DeBardeleben ’03, Paul Kennedy ’07; back row, Louis Amagliani ’07, Brandon Byrd ’07, Ben Waller ’07, William Harris ’07, and Colby Carruthers.

Headmaster Pete Sanders caught up with some young alumni at AutoZone Park to watch the city’s new pro soccer team, the Memphis 901 FC. From left are Grant Heflin ’08, Will Carruthers ’10, Tripp Crews ’13, Sanders, Kent Francis ’08, Connell Hall ’08, Reed Wesson ’06, and Michael Schaefer ’03

Junior Mock Interviews

The Mock Interview program offers juniors the chance to meet successful community leaders, practice an essential life skill, and potentially improve their college options. Alumni who volunteered to help this year are listed below.

Mock Interview Volunteers

Don Batchelor ’72

Trevor Benitone ’91

Jeffrey Block ’94

David Bradford ’95

Sam Buckner ’04

Frank Colvett ’88

Dan Copp ’62

Tripp Crews ’13

Jason Fair ’89

Bob Fockler ’77

Kent Francis ’08

Brett Grinder ’91

Jeff Harris ’81

Walker Hays ’84

Pat Hopper ’89

John Houseal ’94

Rahul Kumar ’09

Jeff Lewis ’88

Patrick McCarroll ’92

Jay McDonald ’00

Vance Montgomery ’08

Richard Moore ’98

Salil Parikh ’85

Robert Rowan ’02

Mark Ruleman ’74

Dan Shell ’90

Scott Sherman ’89

Jazz Singh ’12

Chuck Smith ’66

John Stewart ’78

Gil Uhlhorn ’93

Gerald Wade ’06

Reid Wesson ’06

Alex Wellford ’60

1 Frank Colvett ’88 and Vidjan Gill ’20

2 Sam Gallop ’20 and Dan Copp ’62 3 Chuck Smith ’66 and Collins Robinson ’20 4 John Houseal ’94, Reid Wesson ’06, Tripp Crews ’13, Jazz Singh ’12 5 John Stewart ’78, Flip Eikner ’77, and Robert Rowan ’02

Keith McBride earned his MBA from the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis. He is a financial analyst with FedEx Services.

to let you all know that I made the Russian National Baseball Team. My being 25 percent Russian qualifies me to play with them. I moved to Moscow in May to begin my run with the Russians to prepare for the European Championship, Olympics, and World Baseball Classic.

IN MEMORY

Cale Carson is in Washington, DC, where he is a research associate with Exiger Diligence. The global company assists organizations worldwide with practical advice and technology solutions.

Chase Schoelkopf will be pursuing his first step toward veterinary surgery residency at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, MA.

Max Sheppard is now general manager for Stanley Steemer in Little Rock, AR.

Carson Smith has begun his orthopaedic surgery residency at Campbell Clinic.

Looklive, a tech company that blends culture and e-commerce, was recently accepted to the Morgan Stanley Multicultural Innovation Lab. “Out of 300 startups that applied globally, we were one of 10 selected,” said Looklive cofounder Scooter Taylor. “Our logo was featured in Times Square! Very grateful … going to spend the next six months in NYC building our company!”

Alex Dale joined the University of Arkansas football program as a graduate assistant.

Wil Hergenrader has started a new position as revenue operations lead at FullStory.

Mitchell Marino was promoted to wealth advisor at Regions Bank in Memphis.

Jazz Singh is now a financial analyst with Bridge Capital Thrift and Loan in Memphis.

Drew Stevenson has moved to New York where he is an investment banking analyst at Leonis Partners.

Victor Cole reports: I wanted

Washington and Lee University alumnus Philip Aiken was featured in W&L magazine’s Spring 2019 issue for going the distance to raise money for cancer research. After battling Ewing’s sarcoma as a 12-yearold with the help of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Aiken started a fundraising team as a junior at MUS and hasn’t stopped. He plans to run the Berlin Marathon in September 2019 for the St. Jude Heroes fundraising team.

Robert Edward Manker ’62 May 31, 2019

James Barney Witherington III ’62 April 3, 2019

William Andrew Allen ’65 April 21, 2019

Grant Leslie Hopkins ’65 June 6, 2019

Lancelot Longstreet Minor III ’67 July 16, 2019

Fontaine Bruce  Moore III ’70 March 17, 2019

John Anthony Deweese ’74 February 27, 2019

Robert Christopher Laster ’91 June 23, 2019

Warren Ball, Wil Rainer, Marshall Sharp, and Tate Lowrance attended an engagement party for Tate’s sister, Caroline, in Mound City, AR.

Ashton Clark is a technician with Tennessee Neurofeedback, a cutting-edge treatment that takes advantage of the brain’s ability to heal itself.

Ford Howell is now a market development account executive with FedEx and lives in North Carolina.

Amit Shah is a transaction coordinator with The Kirkland Company, a Nashville real estate firm.

Blake Smith is living in Ann Arbor, MI, where he is a project engineer with Bastian Solutions. ’14

Leo Bjorklund is working toward a master’s in accountancy at the University of Tennessee.

Alec Carro graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and Spanish and a minor in financial economics. He is a member of Vanderbilt University’s private investments team as an investment analyst.

Hayden Combs is an associate in the Washington, DC, office of Berkeley Research Group.

Andrew Crosby is a real estate administrator with SRS-Cresa Lease Administration in Dallas.

a manufacturing intern before enrolling at the University of Florida to pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.

Tejvir Vaghela moved to San Francisco where he is an analyst with Horizon Partners, a boutique financial advisory firm serving companies in the digital media, interactive marketing, and software industries.

Stanford fifth-year senior Harrison Williams was named Pac-12 Men’s Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in May in conjunction with the Pac-12 Championships. Williams is the 2019 NCAA indoor heptathlon champion and completed the most successful collegiate career ever for a Stanford decathlete with second place at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June.

’15

Chima Onwuka, pictured above right with English Instructor Dax Torrey ’94, spoke in chapel in February about his struggles as a student and the power of perseverance. He now owns Grind City Kicks, an online sneaker store that partners with local nonprofits to positively impact the Memphis community.

Hurston Reed is a commercial real estate broker with NAI Nashville.

Bud Harris is an annuity systems support analyst with Raymond James & Associates in Memphis.

Doug McClew has taken a position as accounts receivable coordinator at Holiday Deli and Ham.

In May, Dennis Parnell graduated cum laude from The University of Alabama with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. He interned over the summer with Collins Aerospace in Burnsville, MN, as

MaLeik Gatewood is a strength and conditioning intern with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

business. He was chosen as a torchbearer, the highest award an undergraduate student can receive. This summer he was part of the Global Student Exchange for Ernst & Young, interning in the auditing practice in San Jose, Costa Rica, in July and training in their office in San Francisco, CA. This fall, he will attend Indiana University Bloomington to earn his master of science in accounting.

With a degree in logistics, materials, and supply chain management from Auburn University in hand, Lewis Hergenrader has joined Walmart’s supply chain team.

Xavier Greer graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a bachelor’s in accounting with a concentration in international

A.J. Hunt helped lead the Birmingham-Southern College Panthers baseball team to the Division III College World Series in Cedar Rapids, IA, in June, where they finished as runner-up. He also received the prestigious 2019 ABCA/ Rawlings Gold Glove for best catcher in his division.

Pierce Jones graduated from the University of Arkansas Walton School of Business in May and accepted a full-time position with Endeavor Real

Young Alumni Patio Party

Alumni from the Classes of 2005-2013 met up with their peers from Hutchison and St. Mary’s for a patio party at Ghost River Brewing Company in April.

1 Duncan Adrian ’06 and Charlie Erb ’06 2 John Summers ’05, Alex Snyder ’06, Kyle Mullen ’05, Warner Russell ’05 3 Malcolm Wood ’08, Sayle Atkinson ’08, and Vance Montgomery ’08 4 Chris Eddings ’12 and Wil Rainer ’13 5 Hutchison Head Kristen Ring, Headmaster Pete Sanders, and St. Mary’s School Head Albert Throckmorton 6 Farhan Kheraj ’13 and Jazz Singh ’12 7 Luke Jensen ’07 and Stephond Allmond ’10

Estate Group in Austin, TX, as a retail leasing agent. “I’d like to sincerely thank all of the mentors, family members, friends, coworkers, teachers, and others who helped me get to this point. I’m extremely excited to move to Austin and start my career!”

’16

Sam Bartz is president of the Alpha Tau Omega chapter at Samford University, where he’s majoring in history.

Will Buser, currently studying at Birmingham-Southern College, interned in fixed income capital markets at Raymond James this summer.

Nathan Dinh finished his junior year at the University of Richmond where he is a biochemistry and molecular biology major with minors in law and the liberal arts and integrated sciences. He recently received the Clarence E. Denoon Award for outstanding junior research. Dinh was elected to serve as master of ceremonies for Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional chemistry fraternity, and will be responsible for organizing initiation and other events next year. This summer he worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, in the Office of Research on Women’s Health to update a toolkit for researchers to recruit and retain women in clinical studies. He hopes to explore science policy careers to integrate his interest in science and government/law.

Christian Fauser is a junior at the University of Montana studying environmental science.

Philip Freeburg is studying economics at Vanderbilt University and interning at Lead Capital Partners.

Matt Kruczek had a tax internship with Ernst & Young in Dallas this summer leading up to his senior year at the Cox School of Business at SMU, where he’s majoring in business and accounting.

Patrick Murphy worked this summer as a research intern at the National Renewable Energies Laboratory in Golden, CO.

Daniel Tancredi was in Chicago this summer for an internship with LinkedIn. He is an economics major at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

’17

Jack Crosby was named Rookie of the Year for the Southern Conference at the conference championships in Pinehurst, NC. As a rookie he was medalist this year at both the Camden Invitational and the Wofford Invitational.

Cade Klawinski, a finance major at the University of Georgia, interned this summer with Green Square Capital in Memphis.

Joey Rodriguez is majoring in political science and government at George Washington University, where he was recently appointed director of public relations for GW College Republicans.

Cadet Basic Training last summer where they learned basic fundamentals of the U.S. Army (mountain rappelling, M4 carbine qualification, weapons systems training, etc.), capping that off with a 12-mile ruck march before starting the academic year doing core college courses, P.E. classes, and weekly military training. Cadet Suppiah had a strong start to his college soccer career as West Point won the Patriot League Championships. Cadet Ruaro joined the boxing team and had a great time. This summer is a big one for both with Cadet Field Training, which will further enhance their military skills and push them physically. After that Cadet Suppiah will continue training for soccer, hoping to earn a starting position this year. Cadet Ruaro will attend air assault school to earn his wings, a qualification for air assault operations. Long-term, Cadet Suppiah hopes to branch aviation or air defense, and Cadet Ruaro hopes to branch infantry. If anyone would like to tour West Point, feel free to contact either one of the cadets. BEAT NAVY!

Henry Trammell is a treasury and funds management intern at First Tennessee Bank.

Christian Berry was selected into the eLab Summer Accelerator Program at Princeton University, an intensive 10-week program that provides students with the resources to develop and launch their own startup venture.

Cadets Kirk Ruaro and Jacob Suppiah finished their first or “plebe” year at the U.S. Military Academy. They started with

Ray Zhou is at Vanderbilt University majoring in computer engineering. This summer he did research at Vanderbilt focused on functional MRI and measuring brainwave patterns when an individual is falling asleep.

’18

William & Mary. He assisted two economics professors this summer with research projects, one on the history of special education, the other on trade policy and tariffs. A member of the 1693 and Monroe Scholar organizations, he’s also participating in political organizations and the school newspaper, the Flat Hat.

Josiah Crutchfield attends the University of Memphis and is studying mechanical engineering. He made dean’s list this year and interned at W.M. Barr and Company. He attended a clinic with lacrosse face-off expert Greg Gurenlian at MUS in February and volunteered with the MUS lacrosse program this spring.

Jeremy Jacobs is at Duke University double majoring in English and Spanish while on the pre-med track. He’s participating in the Duke Running club and the Environmental Protection club. Jacobs interned this summer for the Memphis City Council.

don’t miss it!

Benton Ferebee (Brandeis University), Ryan Gorman (Case-Western Reserve University), and Rick Reinhard (Washington University- St. Louis) competed at the 2019 University Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships at the University of Chicago in February.

Jackson Howell finished his first year at the College of

Jacob Webb stopped by campus and caught up with English Instructor Norman Thompson. He’s studying aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech and competing on the fencing team.

Emerging Leaders Tour Old Dominick

Alumni gathered Downtown for a tour and tasting at Old Dominick Distillery, a Memphis family business brought back to life by Chris Canale ’97

1 Front row, from left, Jay Edwards ’07, Will Carter ’09, Hayes Westlake ’13, Frederick Scharff ’13; back row, Will Carruthers ’10, George Coors ’09, Spencer Gruber ’12, Jay Martin ’06, Jack Steffner ’09, Kent Francis ’08, Connell Hall ’08, Grant Heflin ’08, Jazz Singh ’12, and Austin Smith ’09 2 Grant Heflin ’08, Kent Francis ’08, and Jay Edwards ’07 3 James David Duke ’12, Lee Marshall ’12, Will Carruthers ’10, and Andrew Miller ’13 4 Grant Heflin ’08 and Connell Hall ’08 5 Hayes Westlake ’13, Frederick Scharff ’13, and Tripp Crews ’13 6 Austin Smith ’09, George Coors ’09, and Jack Steffner ’09

Send news to your class representative listed below or to Ann Laughlin at ann.laughlin@musowls.org.

’58 Claude Crawford: grill17@yahoo.com

‘59 To be named

‘60 Metcalf Crump: metcrump@crumpfirm.com

‘60 Alex Wellford: awellford@farris-law.com

‘61 Scott May: sfmay@bellsouth.net

‘62 Jerry Bradfield: jbradfi293@aol.com

‘63 Doug Ferris: dferris@ffcfuelcells.com

‘64 Bill Quinlen: wlq1975@aol.com

‘65 Bob Heller: hrheller3@comcast.net

‘65 Rick Miller: grandoc1947@gmail.com

‘66 Chuck Smith: duckhead50@aol.com

‘67 John Pettey: john.pettey@raymondjames.com

‘68 Bill Ferguson

‘68 Terry Wilson: theactor@cypressusa.com

‘69 Scott Wellford: spwellford@gmail.com

‘70 Kelly McGuire: c.kingu70@gmail.com

‘70 Jimmy Ogle: jimmyogle14@comcast.net

‘71 Barlow Mann: barlow.mann@sharpenet.com

‘71 Phil Wiygul: philwiygul@earthlink.net

‘72 Joel Hobson: jhobson@hobsonrealtors.com

‘73 Cecil Humphreys: cecil@cecilhumphreys.com

‘73 Wise Jones: Wise.Jones@regions.com

‘74 Mark Ruleman: markruleman@gmail.com

‘74 Walker Sims: wsims@walkersims.com

‘75 Lee Marshall: lee57marshall@gmail.com

‘76 Gib Wilson: gwilson@lehmanroberts.com

‘77 Bruce Moore: jmoore1977@comcast.net

‘78 Cecil Godman: cecil.godman3@gmail.com

‘78: Rob Preston: robertpreston@reagan.com

‘79 Arthur Fulmer: afulmer@fulmerco.com

‘79 Greg Meyer: chief.vol@msn.com

‘80 Mel Payne: mel_payne@yahoo.com

‘80 Louis Jehl: ljehl@carlislecorp.com

‘80 Bryan Jones: bjones@landmarkbanktn.com

‘81 Kelly Truitt: kelly.truitt@cbre.com

‘81 Boyd Wade: bwade@fcgtn.com

‘82 John Dunavant: john.dunavant@dunavant.com

‘82 Ron Helmhout: ron@thecompanynurse.com

‘83 Craig Christenbury: craig@chillconstruction.com

‘83 Jimmy Harwood: jim.harwood@fabsrv.com

‘84 Bob McEwan: robert.mcewan@raymondjames.com

‘85 Ted Simpson: ted.simpson@pnfp.com

‘85 Owen Tabor: otabor@aol.com

‘86 Brad Conder: brad@unitedcapitalrecovery.com

‘86 Andy McArtor: andy@mcartor.com

‘86 Ted Miller: ted.miller@me.com

‘87 Jeff Blumberg: jrblumberg@gmail.com

‘87 Kyle King: kturnerking@hotmail.com

‘87 Bill White: wswhite3@gmail.com

‘88 Max Painter: max.painter@att.net

‘88 Fred Schaeffer: fschaeffer@strategicfinancialpartners.com

‘89 Scott Sherman: scott.sherman@ftnfinancial.com

‘90 Brian Eason: be@qifab.com

’90 Hootan Hidaji: hootanh@yahoo.com

‘90 Philip Wunderlich: pwunderlich@wundernet.com

‘91 Trevor Benitone: benitonec130@yahoo.com

‘91 Darrell Cobbins: darrell.cobbins@gmail.com

‘92 Chuck Hamlett: chamlett@goarmstrong.com

‘92 Brandon Westbrook: brandon.westbrook@gmail.com

‘93 Thomas Quinlen: tquinlen@gmail.com

‘93 Gil Uhlhorn: guhlhorn@bassberry.com

‘94 Ben Clanton: bclanton@duncanw.com

‘94 Kirby May: kirbymay@hotmail.com

‘95 David Bradford: dbradford@ssr-inc.com

‘95 Gideon Scoggin: gscoggin@finfedmem.com

‘95 Will Thompson: wthompson@nfcinvestments.com

‘96 Nelson Cannon: nelson@cannonaustincannon.com

‘96 Robert Dow: mail@robertdow.com

‘96 Rusty Shappley: wshappley@gmail.com

‘97 Justin Grinder: jgrinder@grindertaber.com ‘97 Trey Jones: trey.jones@ldcom.com

‘97 Michael Thompson: mthompsonjr@gmail.com

‘98 Erick Clifford: eclifford@leadcp.com

‘98 Don Drinkard: Don.Drinkard@cbrememphis.com ‘98 Justin Lohman: lohmanjw@yahoo.com

‘99 Richard Burt: richardtburt@gmail.com

‘99 Chip Campbell: chip.campbell3@gmail.com ‘99 Norfleet Thompson: fltbuck@aol.com

‘99 Josh Winters: joshua.n.winters@gmail.com

‘00 Chris Hamilton: chamilton@midamericamktg.com

‘00 Michael Liverance: liverance.michael@gmail.com

‘00 Ryan Miller: phillipryanmiller@gmail.com

‘01 Paul Gillespie: paul.t.gillespie@gmail.com

‘01 Daniel McDonell: dmcdonell@gmail.com

‘01 Battle Williford: battlewilliford@gmail.com

‘02 Scott Adams: scott.adams@ftnfinancial.com

‘02 John Adrian: jcadrian@gmail.com

‘02 Frank Langston: flangston@gmail.com

‘02 Joe Pegram: jpegram@randallcg.com

‘03 Jamie Drinan: james.drinan@gmail.com

‘03 Edward Nenon: enenon@gmail.com

‘03 Henry Talbot: henry.b.talbot@gmail.com

’04 Kyle Slatery: kslat18@hotmail.com

‘04 Brad Spicer: bradford.spicer@gmail.com

‘05 Kane Alber: kane.alber@gmail.com

’05 Warner Russell: wgrussel1028@gmail.com

‘05 Sam Sawyer: samhuttonsawyer@gmail.com

‘06 Hunter Adams: hadams87@gmail.com

‘06 Chad Hazlehurst: chazlehu@gmail.com

’06 Reid Wesson: rwesson@reliantllc.com

’07 Neely Mallory: wneelymallory@gmail.com

’07 Buck Towner: buck.towner@musowls.org

‘08 Michael Cross: mscrossjr@gmail.com

‘08 Connell Hall: wcchall1@gmail.com

‘09 Rhobb Hunter: srhunter5@yahoo.com

‘09 Jim Moore: jimmoore910@gmail.com

‘10 Stephond Allmond: allmond.stephond@gmail.com

‘10 Hank Hill: hank4hill@gmail.com

‘10 Jake Rudolph: jcrudolph4@gmail.com

‘11 Blake Hennessy: blakehennessy11@gmail.com

‘11 Chase Schoelkopf: cschoelk@gmail.com

‘11 Scooter Taylor: ritaylor6@gmail.com

‘12 Edward Francis: jefrancis56@gmail.com

‘12 Anthony Hodges: ahodges21@student.gsu.edu

‘12 Lee Marshall: leermarshall41@gmail.com

‘13 Derrick Baber: derrick.baber@icloud.com

‘13 Matt Bolton: wbolton1@uthsc.edu

‘13 Jarrett Jackson: jmj7851@gmail.com

‘13 Jake Woodman: jakecwoodman@gmail.com

‘14 Hayden Combs: haydenpcombs@gmail.com

‘14 Cal Edge: caledge901@gmail.com

‘14 Chris Galvin: chris.finn.galvin@gmail.com

‘14 Anthony Walton: anthonylwalton@gmail.com

‘15 Tom Garrott: tgarrott@smu.edu

‘15 Kamar Mack : krm94@georgetown.edu

‘15 Joseph Preston: jpres1@ucla.edu

‘15 Connor Wright: connor.m.wright97@gmail.com

‘16 Nathan Dinh: nathan.dinh47@gmail.com

‘16 Tim Hart: 35skates@gmail.com

‘16 Mac McArtor: macmca@live.unc.edu

‘16 Trammel Robinson: trammelrobinson16@gmail.com

‘17 Josh Gray: 98joshua.gray17@gmail.com

‘17 Marcus Gronauer: dukeboy8@gmail.com

‘17 Alex Hyde: hyde.alex11@gmail.com

‘17 Evan Smith: evansmith11@gmail.com

‘18 Barry Klug: pbklug64@gmail.com

‘18 Mathon Parker: mathon.parker99@gmail.com

‘18 Daniel Shumake: foofighter2210@gmail.com

’19 Scott Burnett: scottyb2256@gmail.com

’19 Stephen Christenbury: christenburystephen@gmail.com

’19 William Quinlen: wquinlen@gmail.com

Your gifts in memory of loved ones or in honor of special friends enable young men at MUS to receive a world-class education. Memorials to Memphis University School support the Annual Fund program. Families of those whose memories are honored will be notified by an appropriate card with an acknowledgment to the donor. We gratefully acknowledge the following gifts to the school:

In Memory Of

MARY LOU ADAMS

Mr. and Mrs. Hunter D. Adams ‘06

Dr. and Mrs. Steven L. Akins, Sr.

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Dr. Daniel F. Fisher, Jr. ‘68

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

Mrs. Nancy Welsh Smith

Mr. and Mrs. George V. Steffens III

TRENT E. ALLEN ‘91

Mr. Bryan D. King ‘91

Mr. and Mrs. Bryan S. Smith ‘91

W. ANDREW ALLEN ‘65

Mr. and Mrs. H. Robert Heller III ‘65

MAXINE AND CARL ANDERSON

Mr. and Mrs. Paul B. Anderson ’86

EDWARD ATKINSON III ‘73

Mr. E. Sayle Atkinson ‘08

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel N. Graham II ‘80

Dr. Amanda Wellford and Mr. Harry W. Wellford, Jr. ‘72

GEORGE P. BAILEY

Dr. Marion Bailey

CARY H. BARNES

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Mr. and Mrs. D. Hamilton Eggers ‘94

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew F. Saunders

Dr. Robert H. Winfrey, Jr.

PETER M. BOWMAN

Mr. and Mrs. W. Kyser Thompson ‘00

WESLEY STEPHEN BROOKS

Mr. and Mrs. Wylie G. McLallen ‘69

OLIVIA DAVIS CLIFFORD

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

Mrs. Nancy Welsh Smith

Mr. and Mrs. George V. Steffens III

BOBBY G. DEMENT

Mr. Hayden P. Combs ‘14

Mr. and Mrs. Paul T. Combs

Mr. and Mrs. D. Hamilton Eggers ‘94

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Ms. Rachel B. Krantz and Mr. Edward J. Goldstein

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony J. Hunt

Dr. and Mrs. David B. Jackson

Dr. and Mrs. Jonathan M. Jones

Mr. and Mrs. Ronald J. Lazarov

Mr. and Mrs. William E. Orgel ‘81

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew F. Saunders

Marci and Ken Woodmansee

JOHN A. DEWEESE ‘74

Mr. and Mrs Charles S. Day ‘74

L. EDWIN ELEAZER III ‘94

Mr. and Mrs. Albert E. Laughlin III ‘94

RICHARD LEE ESSEX, SR. ‘67

The Gilman School Parents Association

Mr. Walter D. Wills III ‘67

ROY MOLITOR FORD, SR.

Mr. Perry D. Dement

NELSON F. FREEBURG, JR. ‘69

Dr. and Mrs. William L. Love ‘69

MARY ELIZABETH “MEG” GARROTT

Mr. and Mrs. W. Price Morrison ‘75

DAVID M. GEER

Mr. and Mrs. Dallas M. Geer ‘95

DALE GOLDMACHER

Mr. and Mrs. Clifford F. Goldmacher ‘86

LYNN RAY GREER

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Mr. and Mrs. D. Hamilton Eggers ‘94

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew F. Saunders

Dr. Robert H. Winfrey, Jr.

WILLIAM R. HATCHETT

Mr. and Mrs. C. Metcalf Crump ‘60

JAMES R. HAYGOOD ‘60

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel S. Rembert III ‘60

CLARENCE G. HERRINGTON III ‘89

Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Burt ‘99

JOHN F. HILTONSMITH

Mr. and Mrs. Jason E. Colgate ‘98

Mr. Jeffrey W. Posson ‘03

Mr. and Mrs. William S. White ‘87

GRANT L. HOPKINS ‘65

Mr. and Mrs. H. Robert Heller III ‘65

Mrs. Nancy Welsh Smith

MARILYN HUGHES

Dr. and Mrs. S. Gregory Portera

MARY JO HUNT

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

LYDIA JACKSON

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Mr. and Mrs. D. Hamilton Eggers ‘94

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew F. Saunders

JOHN K. LAWO, JR. ‘59

Mr. and Mrs. C. Williams Butler III ‘58

BETTIE P. MCGOWAN

Mr. and Mrs. Gregory P. McGowan ‘86

FONTAINE B. MOORE III ‘70

Ms. Elizabeth J. Baird

Mr. and Mrs. Larry H. Bryan

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Friends at Diversified Trust Company, Inc.

Mr. M. McClain Gordon, Jr. ‘67

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel N. Graham II ‘80

Mr. and Mrs. Allen B. Morgan, Jr. ‘60

Mrs. Anne R. Phillips and Mrs. Anne S. Remmers

Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Sayle, Jr. ‘66

Mrs. Nancy Welsh Smith

CAROLYN PARK

Mrs. Nancy Welsh Smith

LUKE PERRY

Anonymous

H. JERRY PETERS

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan B. Peters ‘84

Mr. and Mrs. William C. Saxton ‘02

V. BABU RAYUDU ‘03

Anonymous

THOMAS E. RAZZOUK ‘00

Mr. and Mrs. Omar Z. Malik ‘00

JAMES “PAW PAW” RICHARDSON

Dr. Rebekah K. H. Shappley and Dr. William V. Shappley III ‘96

JACKSON J. ROBERTS ‘14

Anonymous

Mia Bitterman

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey A. Breazeale ‘84

Eleanor Cannon

Mr. James David Duke ‘12

Mr. J. Edward Francis ‘12

Ann Clark Harris

Mr. W. Wittichen Hawkins ‘14

Maija Holsti

Laura Horak

Ellen and Tim Kollar

Sasha Murray

Amy and Andreas Nonnenmacher

Ms. Margaret Newton

Karen and John Parker

Janna, Steve, and Thomas Roberson

Jenn and Scott Sneath

Judith Trotzky

Emily Zimmerman

CAROLYN RUDOLPH

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

Mrs. Myra A. Kelso

Mr. and Mrs. M. Vincent Mutzi

Mrs. Margaret R. Taylor

ANNIE PEARL SMITH

Dr. and Mrs. S. Gregory Portera

GEORGE M. STRATTON, JR. ‘66

Mrs. Ellen Cooper Klyce

MARY ANN STUKENBORG

Mr. Perry D. Dement

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis L. Haguewood

Mr. and Mrs. J. Courtnay Rudolph III ‘77

S. SHEPHERD TATE

Dr. and Mrs. R. Louis Adams ‘70

R. PARRISH TAYLOR III ‘96

Mr. and Mrs. Michael B. Faber ‘96

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hillyer ‘93

CHRISTA G. WARNER

Captain and Mrs. William M. Gotten, Jr. ‘90

SUZANNE WARREN

Dr. Donna M. Dabov

MARK W. WESTON ‘72

Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Loeb ‘73

F. GAINES WHITINGTON ‘15

Mr. S. Pierce Jones ‘15

In Honor Of __________

ROBERT I. ABBAY V ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. James L. Westbrook

VAN M. ABBAY ‘23

Mr. and Mrs. James L. Westbrook

JOSEPH W. ABRAHAMS ‘96

Mr. Thomas M. Hewgley ‘96

GRIFFIN H. ALLEN ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Allen, Sr.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Middlecoff

JAMES A. ALLEN ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Allen, Sr.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Middlecoff

LOUIS F. ALLEN III ‘19

Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Allen, Sr.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Middlecoff

WILLIAM L. ASKEW III

Mr. and Mrs. Jon K. Hampton ‘01

BENJAMIN C. BAILEY ‘99

Dr. Marion Bailey and Mr. David J. Hulbert

JOHN G. BILLIONS ‘23

Dr. and Mrs. Gerald F. Billions

DANIEL D. R. BOATRIGHT ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. James H. Rawls

EVAN F. BOSWELL ‘21

Mrs. James M. Boswell, Sr.

GRAHAM F. BOSWELL ‘18

Mrs. James M. Boswell, Sr.

HOLDEN W. BROWN ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Woody Freeman

JAMES W. BUCHMAN

Mrs. Claire K. Farmer

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gusmus

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander W. Wellford, Jr. ‘60

SAMUEL R. BUCKNER ‘04

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Buckner

J. WESLEY BUTLER III ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Sam T. Lewis

LEWIS A. BUTLER ‘23

Mr. and Mrs. Sam T. Lewis

STEPHEN M. CATES ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Payne

DUNCAN M. CHESNEY ‘92

Dr. Carolyn M. Chesney and Dr. Thomas M. Chesney

C. BENJAMIN CHRISTOPERSON ‘23

Mrs. Nell Christopherson

BRADEN S. CHUBB ‘23

Mrs. Kay Brannon

CLASS OF ‘58

Mr. and Mrs. John S. Evans ‘58

ALEXANDER M. COFFMAN ‘21

Mrs. Robin T. Coffman, Sr.

ROBIN T. COFFMAN III ‘19

Mrs. Robin T. Coffman, Sr.

R. KEMP CONRAD, JR. ‘23

Mrs. Gloria H. Conrad

KENNETH O. COOPER II ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. Jim Cooper

JOHN G. DABOV ‘19

Mr. and Mrs. David W. Dabov

BROCK D. DALLSTREAM ‘19

Ms. Hazel Dallstream

TYLER J. H. DANG ‘24

Mrs. Suxin Feng and Dr. Jia Li

MCRAE C. DICKINSON ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene K. Cashman, Jr.

ROBERT E. DICKINSON ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene K. Cashman, Jr.

JACKSON S. FORTAS ‘23

Mr. John S. Lewis, Jr.

WILLIAM P. FRI ‘71

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley L. Fri ‘71

NICHOLAS A. GALLER ‘23

Ms. Mary S. Shelton

SAM P. GALLOP ‘20

Ms. Katherine Burchfield

CHARLES A. GAMBLE ‘23

Mr. John S. Lewis, Jr.

E. ANDREW GARDELLA ‘10

Mr. Craig E. Gardella

BENJAMIN T. GILLILAND ‘19

Mr. and Mrs. Van A. Lucas

CURTIS W. GIVENS ‘23

Mr. and Mrs. Wilbert Taylor

A. HARRISON GOETZE ’24

Mr. and Mrs. Albert F. Goetze

DAVID M. GRABER II ‘17

Ms. Margaret Newton

ELIJAH H. GRAHAM ‘21

Mr. Sam P. Gardner

WALKER L. GRIESBECK ‘24

Ms. Maureen Griesbeck

EDWARD A. GRINDER ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. Fred D. Grinder

ELLIS L. HAGUEWOOD

Mrs. Carol H. McCaul

Mr. Walter Scott III ’87 by Mrs. Myrle Scott

WILLIAM D. HALLIDAY ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Danner, Jr.

BRANDON D. HANEY ‘18

Mr. and Mrs. Wallace B. Haney

JACKSON T. HESCOCK ’19

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Linguist

WILLIAM W. HESS ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. Wesley T. Bell

HARRY HILL III ‘66

Mr. W. Brigham Klyce, Jr. ‘66

JOHN PARKER HOGAN ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Glyn Herndon

GRIFFIN T. HOOD ‘21

Mrs. Rebecca S. Davies

KRISTOPHER C. HORNE, JR. ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. John D. Horne

JOHN D. HUBER III ‘20

Dr. and Mrs. Rex Amonette

Ms. Della Huber

AUSTIN K. HULBERT ‘01

Dr. Marion Bailey and Mr. David J. Hulbert

ANDREW M. JONES ‘23

Mrs. Violet Olsen

PAUL T. JONES ‘21

Mrs. Violet Olsen

HUNTER R. KENDALL ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. Luegene Pryor

PHILIP KIRSCH ‘98

Mrs. Ronni Kirsch

JONATHAN M. LARGE

Mr. J. Edward Francis ‘12

Mr. and Mrs. W. Hunter Hasen ‘99

ELI J. LEWIS ‘23

Mrs. Kaye G. Lewis

CALEB S. LITTLEJOHN ‘21

Ms. Barbara Steed

ROBERT E. LOEB ‘73

Mr. and Mrs. John H. Pettey III ‘67

N. GATES LUTON ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. E. Eugene Horner, Jr.

SAI N. MADASU ‘24

Dr. and Mrs. Ravi K. Madasu

PAUL A. MARR ‘21

Mrs. Nelda Marr

O. THOMAS MARSHALL IV ‘77

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Dunavant III ‘78

JUSTIN P. MARTIN ‘23

Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Martin, Sr.

JOHN R. MCCARROLL III ‘83

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Dyer

JAY P. MCDONALD, JR. ‘00

Mr. and Mrs. J. Paul McDonald ‘70

ROBERT E. MCFADDEN ‘20

Ms. Anna Marie McFadden

REID A. MCGOWAN ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Nic Thomas

W. WATTS MILLER ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Larry S. Tabor

JOHN W. MONAGHAN ‘22

Mrs. Thomas W. Monaghan

THOMAS M. MONAGHAN ‘20

Mrs. Thomas W. Monaghan

LOYAL W. MURPHY IV ‘86

Mrs. Loyal W. Murphy III

MUS STUDENTS IN FRENCH III, AP FRENCH LANGUAGE AND AP FRENCH IV, AND HONORS FRENCH I AND III

Mrs. Elizabeth P. Howorth

REECE A. NEEDHAM ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. William Miller

JONATHAN R. NELSON ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. William G. Underwood

SAMUEL C. NELSON ‘19

Mr. and Mrs. William G. Underwood

J. MCGEHEE OWEN ‘22

Mrs. Clinton P. Owen, Jr.

CHRISTOPHER B. PARKS II ‘21

Ms. Elizabeth H. Lee

HOUSTON N. PATE ‘19

Ms. Barbara Huntzicker

J. HOLDEN PATE ‘21

Ms. Barbara Huntzicker

TAYLOR G. PATTESON ‘23

Mrs. Taylor G. Holland

WILLIAM B. PATTESON ‘21

Mrs. Taylor G. Holland

DANIEL N. PEOPLES ‘22

Mrs. Julia C. Thompson

DREW W. RAKERS ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. George Voehringer

A. DOTY RAWSON ‘23

Mrs. Mary C. Rawson

EDWIN L. RAWSON, JR. ‘20

Mrs. Mary C. Rawson

W. BARRY RAY

Mr. and Mrs. Jamie W. Howell, Jr.

NANCY AND JACK ROBERTS

Mr. and Mrs. L. Clayton Templeton III

COLLINS B. ROBINSON ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Collins

C. THOMAS ROGERS ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Pritchard

PETER D. SANDERS

Dr. and Mrs. Stephen D. Graham ‘75

AIDAN G. SAUNDERS ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Doug Nash

JORDAN A. SAUNDERS ‘23

Mr. and Mrs. Doug Nash

SIDNEY D. SELVIDGE IV ‘19

Mr. and Mrs. William H. E. Doole

MAKHI P. M. SHAW ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Montgomery

MALCOLM P. M. SHAW ‘23

Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Montgomery

J. CLARKSON SHOAF ‘22

Mr. John Shoaf

BENJAMIN M. SKLAR ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. Jerald H. Sklar

G. WITT SMITH, JR. ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. G. Witt Smith, Jr.

CARRIGAN C. SULCER ‘21

Mr. and Mrs. Bill Woodmansee

JAMES A. THOMAS ‘20

Mr. and Mrs. James A. Thomas

L. TALBERT THOMAS ‘24

Dr. Leonard J. Sullivan

CHARLES S. TREADWELL IV ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. David F. Leake

GARNER G. UHLHORN ’22

The Reverend and Mrs. Robert Van Doren

WORRICK S. UHLHORN ‘24

The Reverend and Mrs. Robert Van Doren

THOMAS W. VANDERSLICE, JR. ‘21

Mrs. Genevieve Branyan

J. HENRY WEEKS ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph I. McCormack

JOSEPH T. WELLER, JR. ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. E. David Coombs, Jr.

H. GRAHAM WEST ‘20

Mr. W. Tommy West, Jr.

EDWARD J. WILSON ‘23

Mr. and Mrs. Paul D. Griffin

PHILIP S. WUNDERLICH, JR. ‘19

Mr. and Mrs. John H. Aaron

CHRISTOPHER G. YARBRO ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. Mickey Brigance

JACOB P. YARBROUGH ‘22

Mr. and Mrs. John E. Yarbrough

SETH T. YARBROUGH ‘24

Mr. and Mrs. John E. Yarbrough

Jim Barton ’85 helped lead efforts to refurbish the Wunderlich Lobby of the Sue H. Hyde Sports and Physical Education Center. The effort was a tribute to legendary Head Basketball Coach Jerry Peters that complemented the naming of the court in Ruth and Jerry Peters’ honor in 2017. With the support of a great contingent of alumni and former players, the space now features video screens, floor-to-ceiling murals, and modernized graphics that better showcase the history of sports at MUS. The work was completed with the help of architect Reb Haizlip ’73, Grinder Taber and Grinder (headed by brothers Brett Grinder ’91 and Justin Grinder ’97), and LSI Graphics.

Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht

THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF MEMPHIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL

6191 Park Avenue, Memphis, TN 38119

Address Service Requested

Parents Only: If this issue is addressed to your son who no longer maintains his permanent address at your home, please notify the MUS Development Office (901-260-1350) of the new mailing address. Because college addresses change so frequently, we are unable to use them for general mailing.

We kicked off our quasquicentennial year August 31, 2018, with an all-school photo on Blankenship Field – featuring faculty, staff, and the entire student body – to commemorate the 125th anniversary of our founding in 1893.